Over the Hills and Far Away
by The Red Dragons Order
Summary: As if fighting Voldemort wasn't enough, Harry finds out that his grandfather is none other than a certain Sannin named Orochimaru. Oh dear. Harry PotterNaruto xover RR
1. Chapter 1

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** I cannot believe I started another one. Gods, I am going completely insane. I'll do my best with this, but I cannot promise that everything will be completely accurate, especially in the _Naruto_-universe. So please enjoy and tell me what you think.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter One:**

Harry smiled and clapped politely as Bill and Fleur finally said their long-awaited I-do's. Beside him Hermione burst into happy tears, and Ron grinned like a loon. Fred and George were wolf-whistling, a joyful Molly was being comforted by a just as joyful and proud Arthur, Remus and Tonks (sitting awfully close) were both clapping and the rest of the guests were doing variations of the same. The party after the wedding was just as much fun, and Harry actually danced with Fleur once – without stepping on her toes which was a miracle in his opinion.

"Are you still going to visit Godric's Hollow tomorrow, Harry?" Remus asked as the party started to wind down.

Harry nodded. "I have to. That is one thing I have to do before I seriously start to concentrate on the task that Dumbledore entrusted me."

"I hear that you, Hermione and Ron have been cooped in the libraries at Grimmauld Place and at Hogwarts," Tonks spoke up as she arrived with a glass of pumpkin juice for both herself and Remus. "It's not healthy you know. You need to get out, see the world and all that else you're turn into an old geezer before you've hit twenty!"

The green-eyed teenager smiled sadly. "Beggars can't be choosers, Tonks. Now, if you'll excuse me I need to wish the happy couple an… _eventful_ night, and then I'm going to bed." He heard Remus chuckle at that remark, and made his way towards Bill and Fleur who were standing by the doors to the Great Hall of Hogwarts, thanking people for their gifts and for coming, and wishing them a good night.

Both of them lit up when they spotted Harry walking towards them.

"Harry!" Bill grinned and pounded friendly on the young man's back. "We are so happy that you could come."

"And we 'ope that you enjoyed yourself, 'Arry," Fleur smiled at him.

Funnily enough, her Veela charm didn't seem to be working on him anymore – not that it had worked much in the first place. Perhaps it was because she was now married, Harry mused and smiled to the newlyweds. "Thank you for inviting me, it means a lot to me to see that, despite everything that has happened, someone can still find happiness and light."

"Of course we would invite you, Harry," Bill protested. "You are practically our adopted brother!"

"And you are one of my most treasured friends," Fleur agreed. "If you need me to 'elp you wiz anything, do not 'esitate to ask, oui?"

Harry nodded gratefully. "So, what are the two of you planning to do after the honeymoon?" he asked.

"Well, as the werewolf bite doesn't seem to have changed me overly much, the goblins are willing to let me get back to work."

"And I am going to continue working at ze Gringotts," the half-Veela sighed and looked lovingly up at her husband. "I do not want to be separated from Bill for long."

"Good luck to you both then, and may you live long lives and raise fat little babies," the green-eyed teenager performed the traditional wizards bow after this wish – it was a ritual of sorts, he had now declared that he was willing to do anything in his power to keep them (and their descendants) safe – and he moved on to let the next person congratulate the couple.

"Good night, Harry!" Bill called after him as he exited Hogwarts.

"Bonne nuit!" Fleur's silver-bell voice sounded through the Entrance Hall.

Harry slowly walked down the steps of the castle and headed for the carriages that would take him to the Three Broomsticks, from where he would floo to the Leaky Cauldron where he was spending the night. He still wasn't completely used to apparating, and he didn't have much faith in his own ability, at least not when he was supposed to apparate close to a powerful shield.

Halfway to the carriages Harry stopped and turned to look at the white tomb standing by the lake. The tomb which belonged to none other than the esteemed Headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore. Harry changed his course and walked towards the tomb. It shone unnaturally in the moonlight, bathed in a surprisingly warm, silver glow. The place around the tomb was filled to the brim with yellow flowers looking suspiciously like Sherbet Lemons.

'_Even in death, you old coot…'_ Harry thought fondly as he caressed the writing engraved on the tomb door. He hadn't given himself much time to mourn or think over Dumbledore's death, but had instead immersed himself in trying to figure out where the last of the horcruxes were hidden and what they were. He knew that if he focused too long on what had happened at the end of the last school-year, he would explode with anger – a great deal of it directed towards Snape, Malfoy and Voldemort, but an even greater portion of it directed at himself for being unable to do anything about it all – and right now he needed to keep a cool, calm head. First he would defeat Voldemort, then _and only then_ would he allow himself time to grieve.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione's soft voice broke him from his musings, and he turned to face her and Ron.

"Yeah, mate, you stood there for quite a while without moving." The redhead added worriedly.

Harry smiled. "I'm fine, just reminiscing and planning our next step." The three of them started walking towards the carriages. "Are you two coming with me tomorrow?"

Hermione nodded. "You bet, but we'll stay at a café or something whilst you visit the graves alone. That is a private moment that I won't intrude upon."

"What she said." Ron agreed.

"Thank you…" Harry said as they got into the carriage and it set off.

"Any time, mate, any time."

**-x-x-x-x-**

'_To the Dark Lord  
__I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to  
__know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real  
__horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.  
__I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will  
__be mortal once more.  
__R. A. B.'_

Harry stared at the little piece of parchment on the table. Such a short note had brought about the unnecessary death of one of the best wizards of the century. Next to it laid the fake horcrux, glittering in the light of the lamp that also stood on the old table.

Sighing the green-eyed teenager slowly went over everything he knew about the horcruxes and about Voldemort, and tried to find a clue – one single clue – as to the whereabouts of the five remaining soul-keeping artefacts. He, Ron and Hermione had all agreed that beside Slytherin's Locket, Voldemort had also definitely used Hufflepuff's Cup as a horcrux and had hidden it at Hogwarts – they just didn't have an idea exactly where in Hogwarts it was hidden. Well, Ron and Hermione were going to get lots of time to search for it at the school whilst Harry was out in the world looking for clues.

The Board of Governors had decided that Hogwarts would stay open, and Minerva McGonagall had been made the new Headmistress, with Flitwick as Deputy Headmaster, and the general public seemed to agree with this choice. Although many of them were still vary of sending their children to Hogwarts – the place where Albus Dumbledore of all people met his death – they still thought it was far more safe than having to send their children over seas to the continent, or not send them anywhere at all. Most of the wizarding world seemed to think that as long as they ignored the problem it would go away.

'_All of them are complete fools,'_ Harry thought with slight pity, before he focused back on what laid on the table before him. Where the hell could the real locket-shaped horcrux be, and who was R. A. B.? Those were the two thoughts that constantly ran through Harry's head. Who and where. Who and where. Who… and… where…

Suddenly, as if struck by lightning, Harry stood up so fast that the chair fell over. He stared at the note on the table for another second, his eyes wide, before he jumped into action grabbing locket, note and his jacket and leaving his room at the Leaky Cauldron. Ignoring Tom's inquiries as to why the haste, Harry hurried out to the back of the pub and promptly disapparated with a near-silent pop.

He appeared again between a shed and a garage, and in front of him stood Grimmauld Place. Running over the road and up to the house Harry banged on the door, completely ignoring the fact that the painting of old Mrs. Black started screeching madly about blood traitors and what not.

"Remus! Tonks! Open up you two! This isn't a social visit, it's important!" the green-eyed teenager shouted. "Will you stop snogging and _open the bloody door_!"

A second later Remus viciously yanked the door open. "What do you want, cub?" the man growled, and Harry noted that the usually honey-gold eyes were almost completely amber. The full moon must be in a couple of days for Remus to act like this.

"Let me in, Moony, I need to speak with you, Tonks and whoever else is in at the moment. Quickly, it's an emergency!"

The werewolf glared but let him through. "If I didn't consider you to be like my own cub, I would have taught you a lesson in how to respect your elders."

Harry blinked and quickly hurried further into the house. The full moon was definitely close if it made Remus this weird!

In the kitchen he found Tonks, Shacklebolt and Moody sitting at the table, and talking quietly probably about some Auror-related stuff. Not wasting any time, Harry drew out the locket from his pocket, and put it on the table so that all three of the grown-ups could see it. He laid the note next to it and waited.

Moody was the first who reacted. "Horcrux…?" the old Auror whispered fearfully. "So that's how… that's what Albus…"

Shacklebolt's eyes were wide. "Now I understand why no one has been able to kill the Dark Lord yet."

"Oh gods!" Tonks moaned and promptly let her forehead meet the table – repeatedly. "Why didn't someone think of this before!" she demanded.

"It was only last year that we were able to confirm it," Harry replied. "Two horcruxes are destroyed, those were the Tom Riddle's diary and Marvolo Gaunt's ring. Another horcrux is Hufflepuff's Cup and it is hidden at Hogwarts somewhere. But take a closer look at the locket and at those initials, and tell me what you think."

Remus snarled, revealing that his canine teeth had sharpened slightly. "That looks like the locket which we found here the year we moved the headquarters of the Order into the house."

Harry just nodded. "Tonks, does R. A. B. tell you anything? The initials of someone in the family perhaps?"

The metamorphmagus just stared with her eyes wide. "R. A. B…" she whispered. "Regulus Artemis Black."

"Wasn't he a Death Eater?" Shacklebolt wondered. "Didn't he die in a Death Eater raid?"

"He did, he deserted the Death Eaters and only managed to live for a few days before those nasty buggers caught up with him." Moody confirmed. "But what has always struck me as odd is that I clearly remember reading a report that said that an unknown potion was found in Regulus Black's bloodstream. Do you have any evidence to back this theory up, Potter?"

The green-eyed teenager shook his head. "It's nothing much, just speculation, but Regulus Black's name means 'Little King' which is a star in the Leo constellation… look, lets not worry about that at the moment, rather lets focus on finding that medallion if it is still here. Moody, could you please do a search for us with your eye?"

"This eye only sees so far, Potter, but I will do my best." With that Moody closed both his eyes and concentrated to the best of his abilities.

There was a long silence in the kitchen as the retired Auror searched throughout the entire house, before he finally opened his eyes again. He seemed slightly worn out, but growled, "The locket is in that House-Elf's possession, or at least it would have been hadn't you ordered to work at Hogwarts, Potter, which is probably the only reason why the locket hasn't ended up in the wrong hands yet."

Harry nodded and quickly went and got the locket, then returned to the kitchen and put it on the table.

They stared at it.

"So, who wants to try to destroy it?" Tonks asked and looked at the three males. "And don't look at me, this is men's work."

Shacklebolt shot her a look. "Weren't you just complaining that the other Aurors treated you like a porcelain doll just because you are female, and that you'd do anything to show them that you are just as good – if not better. And that you would, I quote, 'kick 'em in the balls while I'm at it'."

"I never said when I was going to extract my revenge on the other sex," the woman protested. "If you need me I'll be in a safe place far away from here." With that she was gone out the door quickly followed by a shouting Shacklebolt.

Harry, Moody and Remus remained in the kitchen.

"I think those two just bailed out on us," Harry muttered and the other two nodded in exasperation.

Moody got up from his chair, and drew his wand. "You two younglings get out of here and let me have a go at this first. Go contact your friends Potter, and let them know that we have found the correct locket – I assume those two are in on this, right?"

Harry nodded and walked towards the doors of the kitchen. Now that the adrenaline of finding a horcrux was gone, he felt tired and just wanted to sit down somewhere and think things through. He should probably make himself a list of horcruxes – both known and possible candidates – and try to figure out the possible locations. Work, work and more work. Couldn't Voldemort just keel over and die for once!

"Just don't blow yourself up, Moody," he said to the Auror. "You're the leader of the Order now, we cannot lose you too."

"Just get going, Potter!" although the words were gruff, there was a certain twinkle in Moody's eyes that belied the harsh words and tone.

Remus smirked. "Lets go cub, he has _that_ look in his eyes. The same look he has every time he's about to enjoy a particular duel, and the same look Ollivander has every time a customer enters his shop."

"The insane look you mean?"

"Yep."

The two of them chuckled and hurried out before Moody's hex could hit them.

"You get out of here, both of you!"

**-x-x-x-x-**

The locket had proved to be resistant to all forms of normal magic, and none of them were currently good enough to try some of the insanely difficult spells that Dumbledore could have done without a second thought. It was only by sheer luck – and Tonks' clumsy nature – that they discovered that the locket wasn't warded all that much towards _muggle_ means of destroying things. So Shacklebolt had gotten hold of enough C4 explosive to blow up the Houses of Parliament, had gotten permission to use one of the muggle-army's compounds (being the secretary of the Prime Minister helped), and had promptly blown the damn thing to kingdom come. So, no more locket to worry about, and Ron and Hermione were both very happy about that because now they could get on with the search for the remaining horcruxes, but first Harry wanted to visit Godric's Hollow.

And that's exactly where they were at the moment. They were sitting in a small, typical English countryside pub, enjoying the warmth and the joyful atmosphere. The weather outside was bleak, foggy, and there was an annoying drizzle in the air. The locals of the pub didn't seem to even care about the three teenagers, just sent them the occasional friendly wave just for the heck of it, before they went back to their own conversations.

"Are you sure about this?" Ron asked and sipped on his hot coffee, he had apparently gotten hooked on the stuff because of Fred and George, Harry didn't need nor want to know anything else. "I mean, we can come with you and wait for you at the entrance to the cemetery, anything really, as long as you aren't completely alone out there. It's dangerous in these times."

"I'll be fine Ron," Harry replied with a small smile. "Don't worry about me, this is just something I have to do alone, but I will be careful." He patted the pocket of his jacket where he had a small pocket-knife hidden. His wand was in a wand holster attached to his wrist.

Hermione smiled in understanding. "Alright Harry, you go and Ron and I will work out these coordinates waiting for you here."

Nodding to them both, Harry left the pub, headed towards the outskirts of the village and towards the church and graveyard. Hermione really was a wonder, he mused as he walked with his head bent. She had stayed up almost all night ever since the wedding trying to figure out the locations of the remaining horcruxes. Although her job had gotten easier when they had found and destroyed the locket, there were still three horcruxes – if you didn't count Hufflepuff's Cup – they didn't have the locations to, and she was _this_ close to figuring them out. She had immersed herself in old papers at the Ministry of Magic under the pretence of a summer project for extra credit, and had traced everything Voldemort had ever done – both before and after he became the Dark Lord. Tracing Riddle's movement when he had been travelling around the world had been difficult, but surprisingly enough Arthur Weasley had been able to help them there with some old complaints that had reached his Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office from other Ministries, with a detailed description of a British wizard known as Riddle. That had been a _really_ lucky break.

Reaching the cemetery Harry pushed open the steel gate and entered. Earlier, when they had phoned the church warden and had asked where the graves were located, the man had replied that the graves of Lily Potter, her husband and their baby boy Harry, were located at the complete back of the cemetery. One couldn't miss them apparently, because – according to the man – amazingly enough lilies grew all around, and occasionally a wonderful stag would be seen between the graves as if he was waiting for something.

Ron's first reaction had been, "YOU'RE _DEAD_, HARRY! Are you a ghost or something!" for this Hermione had stomped harshly on his foot. Harry shook his head with a smile at the memory and then he finally stood before the three graves.

The graves weren't as well tended to as the others he had seen, but they weren't completely neglected either. He crutched down and started to scrape away the moss and dirt with his pocket knife, uncaring of the falling rain and his hair becoming plastered to his head. He didn't wear glasses anymore thanks to Hermione and her insistence to get contacts.

Once done he put away the knife, and just crutched there staring at the two graves. He had no idea what to do now, no idea if he was supposed to say anything. Was he supposed to blurt out his entire life story? Was he supposed to tell them how much he missed them? Rant? Rage? Surprisingly enough, the only thing he felt at the moment was peace, as if he had accepted something he hadn't known he was denying. It was… weird.

Harry didn't know how long he crutched there, but finally he registered that the rain had gotten heavy and that he was freezing. He stood up, silently vowed to come back here, bid his parents good bye and turned to walk out of the cemetery. Instead he ran right into a man. A pale man with yellow-greenish eyes. He had light pink markings around said eyes, long black, straight hair and earrings which barely stuck out of the curtain of hair.

He didn't like the particular look the man was sending him, nor did he like the fact that the unknown man was able to sneak up on him so easily. Harry held the eye contact for a moment more before he started to move past the man.

"I came here to find my daughter Lily and her family, but all I found was their graves," the man said, his voice strangely accented.

"Tragic," Harry commented without any ream emotions. His instincts – honed over the years of fighting Voldemort and other evil dudes who decided to butt in – were screaming at him to get away, that this pale man was as dangers as the Dark Lord, yet Harry didn't – instead, he stopped to listen to whatever else the man might say.

"I hear she has a half-sister somewhere, a Petunia something-or-other," the man continued.

"Dursley. Petunia Dursley. Number Four, Privet Drive, Little Whining, Surrey," Harry didn't know what possessed him to say this, but it was done now, and he couldn't take the words back.

A smirk graced the other's face. "But what I really came from the Shinobi Continent to find, was my grandson, Harry."

Harry moved on at this point, trying to ignore the feel of those weird eyes boring into his back. This had moved onto very dangerous ground, ground that was completely unfamiliar and he would apparently have to pay one last visit to his relatives before he started hunting for the remaining horcruxes and Voldemort himself.

'_So Petunia was only my mother's half-sister,'_ he mused as he walked. _'No wonder she hated her so.'_

The stranger's voice rang out in the silent cemetery suddenly. "We will meet again, boy, so remember my name until then! My name is Orochimaru!"

**-x-x-x-x-**

There, that's that. Please do not maim author for the insane idea, the crazy Marsian plot-bunnies decided to invade, that's all I can say in my defence. This will be slightly AU in both worlds, although I will try to stick as close to cannon as I can. I hope I will be able to get everything (mostly everything) right, but if not, please do not hesitate to tell me.

Please review and tell me what you think. Should I continue? Give it up?

Fellow author in crime,

The Red Dragons Order


	2. Chapter 2

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** I am glad that this story has gotten so much positive reactions, as I don't think I could've stopped writing this even if I'd been threatened at gun-point! I've had this story floating around in my head for so damn long, that it is quite stuck in there, and that's a scary place to be stuck, so it really, really, _really_ wants to get out.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Two:**

Harry sighed as he watched the red line run across the wizarding world's version of the map of the world, occasionally highlighting a town or a magical place that Tom Riddle had visited during his travelling years.

"Right," Hermione said and pointed to a dot – the last dot to appear – on the map. "This is a little town at the base of Mt. Hiei in Japan. The Dark Lord visited the village in approximately 1953, and from what I could gather he visited the temple atop the mountain. A few decades earlier that temple had been used by crooks and thieves of all kind as a gathering place because police couldn't enter temple grounds, so that was probably one reason why he visited the temple. Either way, as said, he visited the temple, and promptly disappeared for about two months – and the locals reported that he hadn't come back to town that night, and he couldn't have apparated as there were strong wards all around the place."

"Where did Riddle go, then?" Ron asked. "Did you manage to find that out?"

The bushy-haired young woman nodded, looking slightly affronted that the redhead doubted her skills. "Of course I did – after searching through millions of non-organised papers at the Ministry. They really need a competent librarian down there, I tell you. Honestly, the current one wouldn't know which papers to keep from the enemy because she would have no idea of where those papers were, and-"

"Er, Hermione," Harry started carefully, "it's all fine and dandy that you care about the Ministry's organisation-methods, but do you think you could get back to the point here? You know, where Voldemort disappeared for two months?"

"Oh yes, sorry. Right, a century or so before Grindelwald rose to power there was a split in the wizarding world. There was a continent the size of Australia lying in the pacific ocean, south to south-east of Japan. It was called the Shinobi Continent due to the way the wizards used their magic. At this point it gets very vague, because none of the documents ever mention just how those wizards use their magic, just that it's different from the rest of the world."

"I wonder what they could be using then," Ron muttered. "I mean, it's quite obvious that wands aren't all that important to using magic, but it is the _easiest_ way to do it, and most people – me included – are just too lazy to do anything about it. Just imagine it, no need to walk around with a highly breakable wand in your pants!"

"Shinobi Continent?" Harry muttered curiously, suddenly extremely interested. Hadn't that weird Orochimaru said that he came from the Shinobi Continent? "But what does this have to do with Voldemort's two-month disappearance on Mt. Hiei?"

"I am getting to that. Now, the Wand Wizards had a very good trade with these Shinobi Wizards after the Shinobi split and hid their continent under spells and wards that were connected to the core of the earth itself, hereby providing a never-ending source of power for said wards. Just like Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, Durmstrang and all the other schools have as well. However, when Grindelwald started on his way to power, he made sure to ruin these trading routes to make sure that we couldn't call upon these mysterious and secretive Shinobi Wizards for help. After that people seemed to forget about the Shinobi Continent, firstly due to the war and then just because it wasn't written about anywhere. I only came across it because a small slip of parchment fell out of a book I was looking through."

Harry nodded in understanding. "So the temple on Mt. Hiei is the anchoring point for this Shinobi Continent, and it is the only link between us and them. Somehow Voldemort found his way through the wards and to the Shinobi Continent, and stayed there for two months learning what he could before he was either thrown out again, or decided to leave on his own, right?"

"Yes, that's approximately what I thought happened as well," Hermione nodded, "but he couldn't have found it all on his own, because the Shinobi Wizards put up wards all around their continent, and only someone who has lived on the continent for a year or more could safely get an outsider through the wards."

Ron seemed slightly disappointed. "Damn, I really wish we could've gotten through. Imagine all the things we could learn there, and then use against the Death Eaters and Fred and George. They wouldn't stand a chance against us!"

Hermione suddenly looked very defeated as if the thought alone was enough to send her into a crying-fit. "And that's not all," she said slowly as if it pained her. "I am almost one hundred percent sure that two of the remaining horcruxes are located there."

Ron blinked, groaned and started banging his head against the table. "I knew our luck was too good to last!" the redhead complained sounding as if he was about to start crying any second. Hermione didn't look much better herself, and started sniffing whilst her lower lip shook dangerously.

Harry decided that this was the correct time to reveal his odd meeting and conversation with Orochimaru. He hadn't told his best friends about it yet because he hadn't thought it relevant to what they were doing, but now however…

"Oh my!" Hermione breathed in shock after Harry was done.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed in awe.

"But even though the guy said that we'd meet again, I really don't think we will. There are, after all, six billion or more people in the world." Harry ruthlessly crushed their soaring hopes. "Sure, I told him where the Dursley's live, but what's the chance of both me and him turning up in the doorstep of number four at the same time, on the same day?"

"You're right, but still…" Hermione trailed off.

"Besides," Harry continued, "I am not sure I liked the way the guy was looking at me, as if I was a specimen to dissect."

"Well, I suppose we'll have to trust your instincts," Ron muttered. "They haven't led us wrong so far, and anyways, we can just travel to Mt. Hiei ourselves and get someone to show us through the wards. If that doesn't work, we can go searching for this Orochi Maru-guy and ask him if he's willing – as a last resort of course."

"Perhaps," the green-eyed teen agreed, and let it be with that. He hadn't told his friends about the sense of danger he got when Orochimaru was near, nor had he told them that the look in those yellow-greenish eyes had promised the they would meet up again – no matter what Harry did it wouldn't be enough to escape Orochimaru. Ron and Hermione didn't need to worry about that as well as the horcruxes and everything else that was appearing.

"Don't we have that meeting with the twins?" Harry asked to distract the others' thoughts.

"You're right, we do!" Ron exclaimed and looked at the clock in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. "And we better hurry, because the meeting is in ten minutes!"

**-x-x-x-x-**

"But what are you going to do if you meet the guy again, Harry?" Fred asked. They were occupying the living-space above the twins' shop. Even though the curtains were pulled, they knew it was dark outside, and the light in the room only consisted of the burning logs in the fireplace.

Harry shrugged. "Don't know, and at the moment I don't care. If I do meet him again I will have to wait and see what move he makes before making my own. Right now Orochimaru holds all the cards."

"Well, either way, Fred and I have some new inventions that might interest you." George said and stood up.

"We wanted to get your opinion before we decided whether we wanted to put these beauties on the market or not," Fred continued and accepted the box his twin handed him. "We got the idea for this from both the magical galleon used by the DA and the muggle Morse code." Fred handed out a small galleon-medallion to the three other teens. Each side of the galleon was marked with numbers. One side from one to thirteen, and the other from fourteen to twenty-six. Other than that and the fact that the galleon was attached to a chord, it looked very plain and no one would give it a second glance if they didn't know what it was.

"So, what does it do?" Ron asked looking his galleon over. "Does it spit fire at Death Eaters? Does it work as a portkey? Bite peoples fingers off if they try to steal it?"

"Stop manhandling Gally!" George demanded and grabbed the galleon out of his little brother's hands. "You big pervert!"

Ron, Hermione and Harry just sighed and waited for George to calm down. After years of knowing the twins, they had learned that sometime it was best to just shut up and wait patiently.

Fred decided to explain. "Each of these numbers around the rim on both sides, present a letter in the alphabet; one is A, two is B, and so on. Now, _inside_ the galleons you will find a piece of paper, and that's where the longer messages will appear in Morse code. For example, if I wanted to say hi to Harry, I would press numbers eight and nine respectively, and the medallion would vibrate the correct number or shorter and longer times – which is dot-dot-dot-dot for H, and dot-dot for I – to convey my message to Harry – hence the fact that the medallion must be worn against the skin at all times. Any longer messages will appear in Morse code on the paper and the galleon will warm up to warn you that you've received a message."

George took over. "We've tested this thoroughly, and there is no limit as to how far apart you can be whilst using these babies!"

"What about wards?" Harry asked.

"We tested the early product thought the wards around Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic, Grimmauld Place and Gringotts, and nothing seemed to be able to stop the messages from getting through. Perhaps because the galleon is a mix between muggle technology and magical means, who knows? All we know is that it works!"

"You guys are certified geniuses!" Hermione exclaimed happily.

"Good you two didn't let this out onto the market yet," Harry remarked as he hung his galleon around his neck and hid it under his shirt. "If we distribute these amongst the Order members we will have one up on both the Ministry and Voldemort."

"That is exactly why we waited for your opinion," Fred smirked.

"We still have other products you might be interested in," George winked to them, his eyes glittering at the thought of all the chaos the products could and would produce. "And we are happy to help to make Voldie's life as miserable as possible!"

Both Harry and Hermione chuckled and picked up their now-cold cups of tea.

"What the hell is Morse code!" Ron demanded and sent the rest of the room into laughter.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Harry couldn't believe he was doing this, actually _visiting_ the Dursleys of his _own free will_, to ask _questions_ no less, which were a big no-no in the household of number four. Ever since the Orochimaru character had appeared things had gone from normal weird, to a weirdness that didn't belong even in the wizarding world.

Heaving a sigh, the green-eyed teen rung the door bell and got ready to spring into action the second one of the Dursleys opened the door. One of two things would happen. One, the Dursley opening the door would shriek in terror and shut it faster than a Firebolt could move at top speed. Or two, Vernon would get his rifle and promptly try to shoot Harry, hereby earning himself a spot as Voldemort's most favourite muggle. Harry definitely preferred the former.

As it turned out, neither of those things happened, as the one who opened the door wasn't even a Dursley. Rather than being met with Vernon's purple face, Petunia's shocked one, or Dudley's terrified one, Harry stared down the length of a piece of wood, and the person holding said piece of wood was dressed in black robes and a ghostly white mask. Harry was still sure that there was a triumphant smirk under the mask, though he didn't dwell too much on it.

"Shit!" the green-eyed teen exclaimed and threw himself to the ground just in time to avoid a well-aimed _Reducto_. He continued rolling until he was hidden behind Vernon's newest car, at which point he drew his own wand and got ready to fire off curses. Thanking the heavens for the fact that his seventeenth birthday had been the day after Bill and Fleur's wedding, Harry took a deep breath and jumped up, a curse ready on his lips.

However, he was forced to throw himself to the ground again as the one Death Eater (which seemed to have multiplied itself into five, in which way Harry didn't want to know) shot of a string of curses and hexes and any other things the guy could think of. Vernon's car melted and exploded at the same time, and Harry found himself flying three yards and more through the air because of the magical backlash, before he finally landed in the shrubbery of number six.

"Shit," he repeated the word as he got up again. Deciding that fighting between the houses in Privet Drive was not a good thing, Harry headed off towards the local park. There he would at least have the space to move about in, and perhaps he'd be lucky enough to crash one of the children play-things and brain a few Death Eaters that way.

"After him!" one Death Eater shouted.

"Damn it, he's fast!" another complained.

"Then apparate, you morons!" a third commanded and popped out of the picture. He reappeared in front of Harry, but Harry was ready and promptly pushed the guy into a whole in the ground – which led to the sewers. The workers had apparently forgotten to place the lid back on, or they had lost it, either way it served Harry wonderfully, and he wished he could've taken a picture of the shocked face the Death Eater no doubt had been/was sporting. Alas, there was no time for that as the rest of the Death Eaters were still after him.

'_Does the nickname Death Eater hint towards the fact that they are cannibals?'_ Harry wondered to himself as he continuously ran and ducked curses sent his way. It was a silly thing to think of at the moment, but the Death Eaters that chased him were even slower than Dudley, and that said a lot. Besides, after having duelled with Voldemort (if one could have called those brief meetings duels), nothing could compare to the speed that had been used, and only the Dark Lord's duel with Dumbledore had been more fast paced.

Running into the park, Harry ducked behind the closest cluster of bushes and trees, and crouched. "_Serpensortia Maximus_!" he whispered and waved his wand at the ground. Ten snakes of varying sizes and species appeared. They looked very bewildered, and ready to attack anyone who made a sudden movement. "-Little friendsss,-" Harry hissed. "-I need your help. There are enemiessss after me, and they will be here ssssoon.-"

"-What issss our reward for helping you, young Ssssnake Tongue?-" one of the snakes asked. It was bigger than any of the others, and looked like it would grow larger still.

"-Two white miccce for each of you asss ssssoon assss I can capture them.-" The green-eyed teen replied whilst wondering if all snakes were this demanding. The snakes apparently found this a good deal and scattered to wait for the Death Eaters, and not a moment too soon as the aforementioned people ran into the park panting as though they had just run the marathon.

"Just how fast is Potter!" one of the new arrivals demanded breathlessly.

"He looked like a blur to me." Another replied.

A third Death Eater, this one clearly a woman, snorted. When she spoke Harry froze, and all emotions disappeared from his face. He knew that voice, and he knew the woman it belonged to, and he hated them both.

"He's just a brat who's afraid of our great Lord. Now, spread out and find the little critter, or your cowardice will reach Lord Voldemort's ears!" Bellatrix Lestrange ordered and the Death Eaters hastened to obey. Bellatrix herself just smirked and looked around the park. "Were are you Potter!" she sang in her horrible baby voice. "I am here to do you a favour! I will gladly send you to your pathetic parents and to that _mutt_father of yours! All you have to do is come out!"

Harry's green eyes, which had previously been expressive, seemed to shut down all emotion, his face seemed carved from stone. He looked completely emotionless for a second, before hate crept into his eyes. The worst kind of hate it was, it was the burning hate of an avenger, but safely enclosed in a thick coating of ice, which allowed him to think properly in the midst of the action.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are, Potter!" Bellatrix continued mocking as she drew closer and closer to Harry's hiding place, but Harry didn't move, he didn't make a sound. Instead he allowed the snake – an Egyptian asp – which had stayed with him to twist its way onto his wrist, the snake seeming to understand what he was planning.

"There you are, Potter! I found you!" the female Death Eater laughed, and just moved out of Harry's reach when his hand shot forwards. What she hadn't expected was the snake wrapped around Harry's wrist, and she hadn't moved out of _its_ poisonous reach. She screamed as the snake bit and held on, and didn't have time to move before Harry coldly sent a powerful _Reducto_ straight into her face. She died before she hit the ground.

Harry stood over the fallen woman, completely emotionless, the snake still wrapped around his wrist, its fangs coated red with blood. _'Even if she was an enemy, even if it was self defence, this wasn't right,'_ the green-eyed teen thought to himself. He didn't have the time for any more contemplation as the remaining three Death Eaters came running, lured back by Bellatrix's scream of terror. Harry calmly took in the Death Eaters (one had alreadybeen taken down by the snakes), then – without warning – he started moving.

To the Death Eaters he seemed almost like a blur, and one by one they fell, either stunned or because their arms and legs had been treated to a few well-placed _Reducto_-curses. One of the three was lucky enough to have enough brains and started running as fast as he could. He finally understood just why Lord Voldemort desperately wanted Harry Potter to be dead, cremated, and either buried six feet under in holy ground, or his ashes in a jar on the Dark Lord's shelf, hereby ensuring that no one could wake the Boy Who Lived from his dead state.

Seeing the fleeing Death Eater, Harry growled and started off after him, but neither got too far before the Death Eater suddenly made a gurgling sound and fell to the ground, a small, steel projectile buried in his throat, the blood coating the ground with a thick, red sheen.

Harry stopped and stared in slight surprise at the projectile. It looked like one of those shuriken-thingies from the ninja-movies Dudley was so hooked on a few years back, and he didn't dare to put down his guard. Wizards using wands were dangerous, but wizards using wands and potentially lethal weapons were even worse.

A clapping and a chuckle reached Harry's ears, and he turned towards the tree line. A face took shape in the bark of one of those trees, seconds later followed by a body, until Orochimaru himself stepped away from the tree, a smirk still on his pale face.

"That was very good, Harry-kun," the man complimented. "But your skills are severely lacking, and although your speed is far beyond what I hoped, it – like the rest of your aforementioned skills – isn't good enough at this point in time."

"What do you want?" Harry asked and tried to keep his emotions as locked away as they had been during the fight. He would need serious counselling after all of this was over, he was sure of it. The Dursleys were doubtlessly dead as doornails at this point, and would soon start to push up daisies. He was alone in the entire world now, with no guardians and no mentors.

"Hmm, I like your eyes," Orochimaru walked towards him. "Those eyes so filled with anger and hate. Yes, perfect eyes, and so green. And the fact that you are a Snake Summoner and speak the Snake Tongue as well – which even I don't know – that was a real surprise, I must admit. You're just full of surprises today, Harry-kun."

"I'll repeat: what do you want from me?"

Orochimaru chuckled again. "The question is, what do you want from me, hmm? I see the hate, the need to avenge your dead family, and whilst you have the potential to be great, powerful, these fools using wands will never allow you to shine. I however, need both a travelling companion and an heir, and am willing to take you under my wing, and teach you my ways, the ways of the Shinobi."

Harry frowned. "So you want me to come with you just because you need a personal slave?"

The pale man laughed. "No, no, Harry-kun, as I said, I need an heir, and you will be perfect after I train you properly. I am your grandfather after all, and family must look after each other, hmm?"

'_I don't like him, he's too slippery, too much like a snake. But he is my grandfather._ _And if he came from the Shinobi Continent, there is a large chance that he will be heading back there soon…' _Harry looked the other man over again with a critical eye, and dared to allow the smallest bit of hope to well up in him, his face loosing it's stony, emotionless look. _'Perhaps… perhaps I can finally have a true family… with my grandfather…'_ his eyes were now the eyes of a child that had never known love, a confused child trying to find himself in a dangerous world without guidance, and yet, it was still hidden behind a wall of independence and stubbornness.

"You don't have to come with me, Harry-kun," Orochimaru said. "But I would really like to get to know the last of my family, my daughter's son. I wasn't a good father to your mother, let me change that and be a parental figure to you, my grandson, my heir, my Harry." An arm was lifted and stretched out towards the green-eyed teen, the hand open, waiting.

Harry stared at the hand for another second, then looked up into those yellow-greenish eyes, then he slowly stretched out the hand with the snake still wrapped around his wrist, and finally placed it in Orochimaru's slightly larger one. The pale man smirked, his hand closing around Harry's like a vice, whilst the other hand did a strange hand-seal. A second later, with a poof of smoke, both Harry and Orochimaru were gone from the park in a strange form of apparating.

Harry privately wondered why it felt as though he had just made a deal with the devil.

**-x-x-x-x-**

There, the second chapter is done.

Surprisingly I enjoy writing Orochimaru. He's so sadistically evil, and lets not forget that he's a paedophile through and through! And when Orochimaru says that Harry will be perfect, there are other meanings to it than just face value – most people who have watched the show will understand what I mean, but I don't want to say anything else. I've already said too much! I know that Harry acted slightly weird at the end there, but it's all part of the plot, so please bear with it. And as many people from the _Naruto_-world as I can stick into this will show up, and I already know that at least the Yondaime will make an appearance in a few chapters time!

All bow down to **The Itch** and **Sangelide** for their wonderful Harry Potter/Naruto crossovers! Both can be found in my favourites, and are highly recommended. .

Thanks to:

Dirbatua, D-sama, Falling Right Side-Up, Delphine Pryde, Kaze Sabishii, FireAngel8723, Surarrin, Sarah R Potter, japanese-jew, Geminia, aerinoutlander, candidus-lupus-full Moon, anon, maleficus-lupus, bloody shadow, Ran Hoshino, Prawn, Morrolan, Regina Raptorum, Yami no Kaze, tigermoon and Shadow Crystal Mage.


	3. Chapter 3

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Very long chapter ahead, I hope you will enjoy it. This is mostly due to the fact that I don't know when I will be able to update any of my stories again, as my mother wants to redecorate my rooms and I don't know how long it will take. Still, please enjoy!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Three:**

_Tell everybody I'm on my way,  
__New friend and new places to see.  
__With blue skies ahead, yes I'm on my way,  
__And there's nowhere else I'd rather be.  
_'**Brother Bear' Disney**

If Harry had thought that he would have an easy time with Orochimaru, he couldn't have been more wrong. They had spent the remaining of the night in the run-down motel where Orochimaru had been living for the past week or so, and had set off early the next morning – and the torture had promptly begun.

**-x-x-x-x-**

According to Orochimaru there were crucial differences between the Wand Wizards and the Shinobi. One was that the Wand Wizards depended too much on their gifts for their daily life, whilst the Shinobi only depended on the same gifts when fighting. One needed to be in good condition to be able to last in a fight between Shinobi, and the snake-like man had shown Harry one of their spells – or jutsu as they were called – and Harry had quickly noticed that most of these jutsu needed a good chunk of magic – "The correct term for it is 'chakra'," Orochimaru had said – to work. Unless it was a medical jutsu the chakra didn't need the pin-point accuracy that Harry was used to with his wand, as all of the techniques had a wide range of effect.

"The only things that are acceptable are your speed and your chakra-reserves and control," Orochimaru had said as they boarded the underwater train that went across the English Channel and to the continent. "There will be a lot of work for you in the future, but already I can tell you what kind of shinobi you will end up as, Harry-kun."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Really now?"

"You are a speed-shinobi, someone who focuses more on speed than on strength – you have the build for it – and you cannot be equal in both speed and strength. Your speed is currently lower-Chunnin to middle-Chunnin level, but you have the potential to be ANBU-level, perhaps even Sannin-level." Orochimaru smirked. "Do not worry, son of my daughter, I will teach you everything I know."

"And this chakra you keep referring too," Harry looked at the older man. "I understand that it is the same as what we call magic, but _what_ is it exactly?"

Orochimaru seemed morbidly amused for a second. "So the Wand-wavers have forgotten what their magic is and where it comes from, hmm?" he chuckled. "Yare, yare (my, my), this certainly is unexpected!"

'_Unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome,'_ Harry concluded from watching his grandfather muse over the meaning of those words for a few minutes. _'You are planning something, Orochimaru, but whether it has to do with the Shinobi Wizards or the Wand Wizards – or both – I cannot say… yet.'_

"Chakra – or magic if you prefer – is created with energy from the body and energy from the mind. When you mix these two together you can perform just about any kind of technique you want, whether it be with a wand or with hand-seals. Depending on which technique you wish to use, the amount of energy you need would vary as would the makeup of the elements." Orochimaru stared at Harry throughout the entire speech to make sure that the younger green-eyed boy had understood everything. "Take for instance numbers. Numbers are heavily involved in the making of a Wand-users spells, hexes, charms, etc. But Shinobi use hand-seals instead of numbers, and each hand-seal brings up a specific amount of chakra for you to use. The hand-seals also take into consideration if it is a Fire-style technique you are trying to use, or if it is any of the other five elements. All Fire-styled techniques starts with the hand-seal for fire, all Water-styled techniques start with the hand-seal for water. When children start to train to use their chakra they must perform these seals at the beginning of each technique, but as they grow more used to the certain mentality of it all they drop the elemental hand-seals and go straight on to the technique itself."

Harry understood this, he had even seen it happen. Not with hand-seals per see, but with wand-waving. At first, when they had just learned the Accio – the Summoning Spell – in Flitwick's class in first year, they all had had to focus and do the correct wand-movements when they were going to perform it. Nowadays everyone could do the spell without having to do the correct wand-movements. Now, they just pointed their wands at the particular thing – or didn't point it at anything at all – and said the command, and the thing would come to them no matter what; it seemed like an unconscious act for most wizards.

Orochimaru continued. "As I already said, chakra is made up from the mental and physical energies. If you are fat and lazy you will end up with very little chakra, and if you are weak-minded your techniques will be very poorly controlled and performed as you must _will_ the technique into effect – especially with illusionary techniques. Hand-seals – as with wand-movements – are there to guide your chakra to the surface, but unless you activate the energy gathered it will just dissipate again and everything would have been in vain. You activate the technique usually by uttering its name, it is the same with the Wand-techniques yes?"

"It is," Harry nodded and decided not to mention the fact that Hogwarts had taught them to cast magic soundlessly. However, he supposed that it didn't help much that you could perform a technique soundlessly if your opponent recognised the wand-movements or hand-seals. _'Or used legilimency on you,'_ a little voice whispered, but he pushed it away.

From there on Orochimaru had continued on a lecture about different Hidden Villages – i.e. shinobi-villages – and the elemental techniques these different villages specialised in. He explained about the different ranks within the shinobi community, and other general information that was useful.

By the end of it Harry's head was swimming with new ideas and techniques and gods knew what else, and he was quite dazed by it all. Orochimaru just smirked and led his grandson off the train once it stopped, and started on their journey towards Japan and the shrine at Mt. Hiei.

**-x-x-x-x-**

They had travelled across the continent. On foot, and occasionally with boat or bus to cross a border, or a river, or whatever it was that was in the way.

Orochimaru was a very determined fellow, Harry had quickly realised that. And he was also completely heartless when it came to pleas and begs for mercy. The man had started on Harry's new training regime the second they had set foot on the European continent, and by the first week Harry was sure he wouldn't be able to ever move again due to being black and blue and every colour in between. His body felt as heavy as the lead-bands around his wrists and ankles – "To help you both with your speed and your strength," Orochimaru had said, then smirked upon Harry's despairing look. The man was a worse torturer than the Spanish Inquisition ever could have been, but the training _did_ show quick results. Orochimaru had set a quick pace to the training, but it wasn't so overdone that Harry got sick because of it, and the training of the body wasn't the only thing involved. The older man seemed to take great pleasure in annoying the younger one whilst the latter was supposed to be meditating, and trying to get used to do magic without the use of his wand.

"A shinobi must be in control of his emotions at all times," Orochimaru had said with a smirk.

That was the first time Harry consciously thought that he wanted to kill his grandfather.

However, despite all the continuous training the two of them did have a generally good time travelling across the continent, and a few times were even rather memorable. Like the time a child had been fighting with his mother and somehow the ice-cream cone had ended up in Harry's face. Orochimaru had taken this opportunity to point out that literally anything could be used as a weapon. Harry had wondered if he would manage to give his grandfather a blue eye before he was knocked out, but decided that he didn't have a chance at his level. Even a snowball in hell had more chance of surviving, and that said something. On the other hand, they had gotten a free meal out of it courtesy of the child's mortified mother. Then there was that time a transvestite asked Orochimaru for beauty-tips. Well, Harry had found it funny at least.

Harry had kept in touch with his friends with both normal muggle payphones, and the magical galleons that Fred and George had created. The payphone-conversations were more for show, to keep Orochimaru from wondering and asking too many questions about Harry's past, whilst the conversations through the galleons was kept as secret as possible – though Orochimaru did send Harry a couple of weird looks and remarked upon his fixation with the medallion around his neck. Harry had already been forced to tell his grandfather that he couldn't teach him Wand-magic because A) the ministry placed a spell on everyone to keep them from blabbing out the secrets of magic to any person that passed, and B) because the person had to have certain mental aspects to understand the complexity of Wand-magic. Well, both were somewhat true, so it wasn't an outright lie, but Orochimaru hadn't taken it nicely, not at all. That was the first time Harry experienced what it was like to be frozen with fear, the killing intent in the air had been so heavy it almost crushed him! Luckily Orochimaru had calmed down quickly, and had smirked.

"So, as long as we find a person with the correct mentality for Wand-magic, you will be able to teach him or her?" the snake-like man had asked.

Harry nodded hesitantly to give himself time to gather himself. His knees slowly stopped shaking, and he could finally breathe normally again. "More or less, though I would have to convert every spell, hex, whatever, into hand-seals to do that, but the end-result would be the same I believe."

"And how would you know which person is correct, hmm Harry-kun?"

"Legilimency," Harry replied, his heart was finally reaching normal speed. The killer intent in the air had been far worse than anything Voldemort had ever emitted, but it was dissipating thank the gods! "It is a technique which allows the user to read another person's thoughts as long as they keep eye contact. It is often used during interrogation as well."

Orochimaru's eyes glittered at that. "And do you know this Legilimency Jutsu?" his voice suggested that if Harry didn't then they would go in search for a Legilimency Master, or at least books on Legilimency.

"I am no master of it, but I know some. And since you taught me the meditation-methods I have gotten much better. I am constantly practicing on other people whenever we take a break in a bar or when just walking down the street." Which was true, Harry reflected. He had gotten much better in both Legilimency and Occlumency after being taught to properly meditate, and he was managing to block out any dreams and visions Voldemort could have sent.

That was another matter. Voldemort. Orochimaru had asked about him, and Harry had told the older man just about everything – except the prophecy that was involved. He even told his grandfather about Voldemort's serpentine looks and Nagini, and at this point Orochimaru had revealed that he could call forth snakes by using the Summoning Technique – the Kuchiyose no Jutsu – which was apparently what he had reasoned was what Harry had done that night when he summoned those snakes. The pale Sannin had explained that the Shinobi could only summon one animal, a contract bound them to that animal as long as they lived. Harry had told him that he had no such restrictions, Orochimaru had looked surprised, then a smile had slowly developed on his face, a very scary smile in Harry's opinion. It was also the end of the Voldemort-conversation, which Harry had been very grateful for. He had a feeling that Orochimaru was able to read him like a book, and he hadn't known just how much longer he would have been able to lie to the man.

Grandfather or no, Harry didn't trust the man as far as he could throw him.

**-x-x-x-x-**

"Hmm, we are running low on money," Orochimaru remarked one day.

They were travelling through the Chinese countryside, and Harry had eagerly taken in the rice-fields and the culture. The journey to Japan had been very educational – and painful he reminded himself and winced as another sore muscle made its presence known.

"We don't have enough to get to Mt. Hiei?" the green-eyed teen asked.

"No, the new clothes we bought and your constant phone-calls severely depleted the money I was given by the Akatsuki."

'Was given by the Akatsuki' was quickly translated into 'managed to weasel out from the Akatsuki from right under their noses'. Harry sighed, his grandfather would have given Petunia Dursley a heart attack if those two ever had met, as Orochimaru clearly wasn't your ordinary run-of-the-mill grandfather. I mean, how many grandfathers went around telling their grandchildren that killing was necessary, and trained them to assassinate other people. Not many, and most of those were kept under heavy surveillance by the nice men in white coats.

The Akatsuki was an organisation which consisted of the top shinobi on the Shinobi Continent. They jumped about the countryside searching for demons, and were eager to take said demons' powers for their own use. Orochimaru belonged to this organisation, and that was part of the reason he had been thrown out of Konohagakure – the Hidden Village of Leaf – and made an S-class criminal.

"I got too powerful for them," Orochimaru had said. "They got frightened of my power – and the power I might have acquired in the future – and they cast me away for some golden-haired brat!"

Harry had wisely stayed silent after that and hadn't asked anything else about the happenings which had led to his grandfather being chased out of his birth-village. He knew there was more to the story than was let on, but all Orochimaru had been willing to say was that he had been thrown out, and had set off to find his daughter shortly afterwards.

"Last night I called England again," Harry spoke up after a while in silence. "Ronald Weasley's older brother, Bill, was sent to China to help take down the ancient wards on a newly-discovered tomb. The excavation site should be approximately half-way between here and Hong Kong."

Orochimaru smirked. "You are truly starting to think like a grandchild of mine should, Harry-kun."

Harry just nodded his head and they continued walking.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Due to the medallions and to a phone-call, Bill knew when to expect Harry, what to expect of the meeting, and what to bring to the agreed location. Orochimaru stood in the shadows and let Harry deal with the meeting. He wanted to observe just how far his grandson had come in the past months, and just how much the younger man desired power. Over the weeks Harry had sometimes seemed hooked on power, whilst other times he had seemed more reluctant about it all, however, never had he outright denied power – a good sign in Orochimaru's book. The pale Sannin chuckled and diverted his attention back to reality just in time to see a tall, lanky redheaded man walk through the door of the little inn where they had spent the night.

'_This is going to be very interesting,'_ he thought to himself as the redhead walked towards Harry's table. _'Do not disappoint me, Harry-kun.'_

Harry was well-aware of the yellow-greenish gaze on his back, and he hoped he was playing his cards right. Bill's entrance brought him out of his thoughts, and he forced himself not to break out into a smile when the redhead sat down at his table and greeted him. Gods, how he had missed everyone, there was never a boring minute with his friends. Well, there was never a boring minute with Orochimaru either, but Harry had quickly learned that like Voldemort, Orochimaru desired power, and the conversations could get slightly monotonous after a while.

"It is so good to see you, Harry!" Bill said happily. "We were so worried after you just up and left, and even though you constantly call home… well, the girls have almost worried themselves into a frenzy! What made you suddenly run away like that anyways?"

Harry didn't answer at first. "I wanted to get away for a while." He said.

"Get away? Oh Harry, you know that with just a word from you and I or Charlie would be eager to lend you one of the houses that Gringotts or the Dragon Keeper Association owns."

"I wouldn't be getting away then, that would be a simple vacation. There is a difference." The green-eyed teen didn't bat an eyelash, but Bill seemed rather surprised at the short, cold, clipped answer. Before the redhead could gather his wits enough to ask what the hell was going on, Harry continued. "Did you bring the money I requested?"

Bill nodded hesitantly and brought a wallet from inside his west. "I did." He handed it to Harry who took it. Then, to his even greater surprise, Harry simply stood up, nodded to him in thanks, and left the bar before Bill could say 'quidditch'. It took a second, but then the Weasley-brother gathered his wits and hurried out after the green-eyed teenager, having no idea that he was followed by a thoroughly amused Orochimaru.

"Harry, what is going on here!" Bill demanded once he had caught up to the younger man.

"Nothing that concerns you at the moment, Bill," Harry replied coldly and shrugged off the hand which had been placed on his shoulder.

Bill simply grabbed his arm. "If this is about what happened to Dumbledore, to Sirius, to Cedric, well, we can talk about it! There's no need to-"

"You have three seconds to remove your hand."

"Harry? Wha-?"

"Remove your hand from my person, and yourself from my life, Bill," Harry growled, his eyes shadowed by the long bangs. He absentmindedly noticed that he needed a haircut. "If you don't, then I will remove both for you."

The redhead didn't give up. "Harry! Listen to what you are saying! This is the last straw, I am taking you back-" Bill never had the chance to finish that sentence. He had started to pull Harry towards the designated apparating-point of the village, but months of training had finally kicked in and in a move too fast for Bill to see Harry had him on the ground and gasping for the breath which had been knocked out of his lungs. The ache in his chest told him that he might also have a fractured – or even broken – rib. He stared up at the teenager, and shivered upon seeing the cold eyes.

"… Harry…?" Harry cut him off once again by throwing a kunai – a multi-purpose dagger Orochimaru had given him – with excellent accuracy. It landed right beside Bill's head, cutting the redhead's cheek. A trickle of blood ran down the now-pale skin. "You are not the Harry that I knew." Bill said finally.

Harry remained emotionless. "You never knew me," he said quietly, then turned. "I've found someone who's willing to teach me everything that Dumbledore didn't want to, and some sacrifices must be made. I do not want to kill any of you Bill, but if you follow me and try to force me to come back, I swear I will do it without a second thought." He continued walking and was silently glad that he didn't hear Bill's footsteps following him. That meant that the redhead had gotten the message, and would spread it.

Orochimaru was waiting for him around the next bend in the road. There was a smirk on his face and a certain glitter in his eyes when he spotted Harry. Neither said anything as they continued walking.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Reaching the shrine at Mt. Hiei had been the easy part, according to Orochimaru. Now they had to sneak past the numerous wards, the monks and the other tourists. This would be a very difficult task as the monks at this shrine were specially trained in picking up any magical signature, or if a person had more chakra than normal. It was the same with the wards.

"We need to suppress our chakra to the point of normal humans," Harry concluded from this explanation.

Orochimaru nodded. His grandson was slowly becoming the perfect shinobi Orochimaru expected him to be. And when the right time came… His thoughts were cut of by Harry's voice.

"Do we go now, or do we wait for nightfall?" the green-eyed teenager asked as he continued to watch the shrine and all the people milling about. The two of them had taken a last breather just outside of the wards. As soon as they entered the shrine there would be a high possibility that they would be discovered, and if that happened there would be chaos followed by a mad dash towards the portal to the Shinobi Continent.

"We shall go now," Orochimaru replied. "It is easier to blend in when the monks and the wards must concentrate on more than one person at the time."

"Hai," Harry replied and was silently glad that his grandfather had taught him Japanese, otherwise he would've been in big trouble more than once. Japanese wizards were very scary, especially when they checked your fake passports and sent you those looks. He shivered slightly, several times the Japanese wizards had been _this_ far from discovering who Harry really was. According to Hermione the wizarding world was in an uproar once they heard that Harry Potter had disappeared, and the Order did everything they could to keep it all under control.

"Lets go." Orochimaru ordered and the two of them had to consciously make an effort to look and act like normal muggles. They had to make sure they made noise when walking, they had to act exited upon seeing the shrine, Harry ran from one booth to another making sure to see everything offered, and even picked up a small, wooden, nicely-decorated flute. Basically they acted like a grandfather and grandson – or father and son – on vacation, seeing what Japan had to offer, and slowly made their way towards the portal to the Shinobi Continent.

It all went well until they reached the entrance to the courtyard where the portal was placed. At that point six Death Eaters came running up the stairs behind them whilst pushing and cursing people left and right. The monks came running, readying their spells and wards, and people screamed and began running around in wild panic.

"They're like headless chickens," Harry muttered as he watched the pandemonium. "No wonder the monks can't get anywhere."

Orochimaru chuckled. "You will not be seeing this amongst the shinobi, son of my daughter. Lets take this chance and get through the portal whilst the monks are occupied." Harry nodded and followed the older man into the courtyard, beyond the small shrine which stood there, and out into the garden on the other side. In the middle of the garden stood an 'O'-shaped statue of a jade dragon on a podium, and people could easily walk up the two steps and through the middle of it. Around it stood seven stones, and upon each stone there was incense burning, and wards were carved into each stone as well.

"It will take me a few minutes to activate the portal," Orochimaru explained as they walked up to the statue. "It is so much easier to activate it from the other side, but it is much more difficult to find it as well."

"Balances itself out, doesn't it?" Harry muttered as he took up a guarding position, his hand ready to reach for the hidden kunai in his clothes. Knowing that his grandfather would easily discover any potential attacks from the front and the sides, he took upon himself to guard the older man's back – even though he knew he didn't need to do that either. It gave him something to do at least whilst Orochimaru tinkered with the portal.

And it proved a good thing too, for not even a moment after Orochimaru had started to try to open the portal, seven knives came flying towards them from the shrine, followed by seven monks. Harry deflected the knives with a kunai, his other hand already reaching for the shuriken in a hidden pocket, and throwing them back. A young monk went down, but the other six – obviously being more experienced – just deflected the throwing-stars like Harry had done with their knives.

"Keep working, Orochimaru-sama," Harry said to his grandfather. "I will take care of the monks."

"… Aa…" Orochimaru agreed and turned back to the portal with a smirk. Yes, his grandson was really turning out to be perfect.

Harry had no idea of the older man's thoughts. He was busy watching the monks and trying to use his eyes to plead with them to not attack, to get away. He really didn't want to kill holy men, but he would have to if he even wanted any chance of getting into the Shinobi Continent, and as he had told Bill some sacrifices had to be made.

The one who seemed to be the leader of the little troupe of monks, sent an understanding look back to Harry, but his eyes also told the teenager that there was no chance the monks could draw back. And as neither of the parties could draw back, it meant that there would be a fight, and only one part would survive. Harry closed his eyes for a second to gather his courage for what he was about to do, and when he opened them again, he was in the same emotionless state he had been in when he had killed Bellatrix.

Harry attacked a split second before the monks did.

Although the monks were good, thanks to Orochimaru's gruelling training Harry was better by a hair, and that was enough. He threw several more shuriken, then was upon the monks as they were busy defending themselves from the throwing-stars. The monks were surprised upon Harry's speed, and two more of them fell before Harry was hit in the ribs by a long staff and sent flying backwards towards the portal once again.

Landing on the balls of his feet as he had been taught Harry slid backwards for another couple of feet, before coming to a stop. He stayed in that position, ready to either attack or defend, and silently watched the remaining four monks start to circle both himself and Orochimaru. One of them cried out as he stepped on the ever-useful blanket of caltrops Harry had spread as he had been falling through the air. Those little things looked like spiked wire, and no matter how they fell there would always be a sharp-side up. Very useful and easy to both make and hide.

"Drop the weights." Orochimaru ordered without turning around, and Harry did as he said. His arms and legs felt light like feathers once the things came off, and he smirked happily as he watched the monks circle them. It felt good to get rid of those damn things, that was for sure.

This time the monks attacked first.

Harry moved faster than he had ever before, and he easily intercepted the three monks that came at him. One went down after Harry pushed a certain pressure point, and another found his throat stabbed by the last kunai Harry had. The third was the one with the long staff, and Harry was forced to jump high in order to avoid its crushing swings. Whilst in the air he noticed that the last monk had circled all around the statue and seemed to be ready to run through the shimmering opening and either hope to attach Orochimaru or close the portal in one way or another.

'_Damn it!'_ the green-eyed teenager thought as the staff contacted painfully with his shin. _'Which one of the monks do I take out first? Both are serious threats to the portal, and Orochimaru is using a lot of chakra trying to open said portal. I cannot draw attention to us, the Death Eater's cannot keep the attention of the monks on them much longer either. Wand-magic needs too much accuracy when fired at the target, which means I need to use Shinobi-magic, a jutsu, but I will draw attention if I use anything flashy. Damn it!'_

All this flashed through Harry's thoughts in a split second's time, and suddenly he knew what had to be done. Still in midair he grabbed the monk's staff with one hand, and brought the other up in front of his face and started making half hand-seals, imagining the other half of the seals being done in his mind's eye. As the monk fought to free his staff, Harry concentrated.

_Half of nezumi(rat)_ and _half of hebi(snake)_ for the earth element.

_Half of ousu-buta(boar)_, _half of tora(tiger)_, and a _half-ryu(dragon)_ for the desired results.

"**Doton: Kansai no Kurogane Gosunkugi!"**_(Earth Element: Iron Spike Trap)_ Harry's eyes snapped open as he whispered the words to activate the jutsu, and the monk in front of him stopped struggling to stare in horror at what had happened.

The other monk had almost reached the portal and was getting ready for his last sprint to destroy it. Orochimaru wasn't able to do much about it, his chakra was needed to keep the portal open, and he couldn't throw anything as both his hands were needed in the _o-hitsuji_(ram) seal which focused the chakra for the portal, therefore he had been wondering if he should use his Snake Charmer ability to hypnotize the suicidal monk. However, at that moment a spike of iron shot out from the ground almost soundlessly, and skewered the poor monk through and through. Orochimaru smirked and continued concentrating on opening the portal. Yes, his decision to see if that one-night stand so many years ago had led to something was a good thing indeed. Without it he wouldn't have found Harry, his perfect grandson.

"Harry-kun," the Sannin said from his position in front of the portal. "It's open. Finish the monk and lets go before the commotion outside dies down."

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama." Harry replied and turned his attention back to the terrified monk. "I told you to retreat, but you didn't listen. I am sorry, but this must be done." The monk gulped, and finally decided that running for help would be the best thing right now. He had barely turned before Harry had cut his throat silently with his last shuriken. Blood sprayed and covered the green-eyed teenager's clothes and a few drops landed on his face as well. He doubted even Hermione and Ron would have been able to recognise him now, covered in blood as he was.

"Harry-kun!" Orochimaru's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Lets go!"

Harry shook himself, and ran towards his grandfather. Together the two of them jumped through the 'O'-shaped shimmering opening, and landed on hard stone on the other side. They were standing in what seemed to be the canyon of canyons. It went on as far as Harry could see to both sides, and although he could just barely make out the sky overhead, he couldn't even start to comprehend where the bottom might be. A bridge of stone led from one side to the other, and placed on the other side was another of the portals, and it was shimmering as well.

"This is the place separating the Shinobi Continent from the rest of the world," Orochimaru explained. "This was created when the wards were put into place."

"Why are we just standing here instead of crossing the bridge?" Harry asked.

"Because one of the nine demons guards the passage." Came the reply.

"Demon?"

Orochimaru nodded. "An enormous dog with three heads, I barely escaped it when I crossed over last time."

The words echoed around inside Harry's head until he finally grasped onto them. "A Cerberus!" he demanded.

"If that is its name, then yes. And there it is." He pointed to the other side.

In the cliff-face three dog-heads were taking shape and stepping directly out of the stone, not unlike what Orochimaru had done when he had stepped out of the tree in the park the night Harry had killed Bellatrix. An enormous, muscular body followed, and the beast stood at least twice as tall as Fluffy had ever been. It stood protectively in front of the portal into the Shinobi Continent, and all three heads with their red, demonic eyes focused on Harry and Orochimaru.

"I smell blood!" the head in the middle roared, its eyes flashing dangerously.

'_From the frying pan and into the fire,'_ Harry thought to himself as he gulped. _'Just bloody fantastic!'_

**-x-x-x-x-**

There, what do you think?

I know that Harry acted very cold and OOC here – especially the scene with Bill – but I tried not to make him into a cold bastard at once. He needs to get to the two horcruxes hidden on the Shinobi Continent, and his only ticket there is Orochimaru, and besides, the guy is his grandfather! However, he has realised that Orochimaru doesn't exactly go for the goody two shoes, so he is changing. Some sacrifices must be made, after all. But I also tried to give them a more family-like relationship as well, though you will notice that it's only mentioned once. The rest is just Orochimaru being happy (which is scary), and Harry wanting to kill him for what he is put through.

This is set just after Orochimaru was rejected as Hokage and chased out of the village. The only time between would be the time it took to travel across the continent and to England, and trace down what had happened to Lily Potter nee Evans. Orochimaru travelling out of the Shinobi Continent is very plausible at this point in time as Konoha would want serious revenge, and, well, he found another of the demons that the Akatsuki is searching for, didn't he? **:whistles innocently:**

Concerning chakra/magic and hand-seals/wand-waving. I am no expert at this, and I build my ideas on what I can find on the internet and whatever falls into my head at the time it is being written – as long as it sounds as close to reality as possible. If you have any comments on this, do not hesitate to make them. I love good ideas!

I know this chapter is insanely long, but I just wanted to get them to at least the entrance to the Shinobi Continent and be done with the journey that took them there, and finally start the good stuff in the next chapter. I think Jiraiya is going to make an appearance next chapter, amongst other things.

Thanks to:

simpleinsanity, Sarah R Potter, FireAngel8723, Falling Right Side-Up, Surarrin, sarah-sama, candidus-lupus-full Moon, Yami no Kaze, Ran Hoshino, No 1 You Know, A-Brighter-Dawn, Shadow Crystal Mage, Shadowed Rains, FF-loverHP1, LenJade, Xmasgoose, anti-thule, Stratagemini and cutieme012.


	4. Chapter 4

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Apparently I am getting worse at writing because more than half of you realised what would happen with the Cerberus! Kudos to you all, and I still hope you enjoy this!

**Warning:** There will be an approximately four-year time-jump in this chapter. Just so you know.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Four**

'_Over the hills and far away,  
__for ten long years he'll count the days.  
__Over the mountains and blue seas,  
__a prisoner's life for him there'll be.'  
_'**Over the Hills and Far Away'** **Nightwish**

"I smell blood!" the head in the middle roared, and Harry looked down on his own clothes.

Yep, still full of blood.

He turned to Orochimaru. "Exactly how did you pass last time?" he asked.

The Snake Sannin was watching the Cerberus carefully, but he replied quietly nonetheless. "I summoned Manda, the king of all snakes. The demon – a Cerberus, you said? – has healing abilities that no other creature has, therefore it doesn't bear the marks of the battle."

It appeared as though the Cerberus had finally spotted the two humans standing on the other side of the bridge, and all three heads growled. Luckily the bridge was far too small for the enormous Cerberus, otherwise Harry knew they would've been in great trouble.

'_Actually, we're in trouble no matter what,'_ the green-eyed teenager thought. _'We can't go back as the monks will be swarming like bees, we can't stay here for long without provisions, and we can't go forwards because of the Cerberus. If only Hagrid was here, he'd know what… to… do!'_ green eyes snapped open at that thought. He stared at the growling and yowling three-headed dog for a minute. _'Well, it's worth a shot, I guess.'_

Harry took off his backpack and started to rummage through it. Orochimaru – who had been in the process of making the correct hand-seals of the Summoning Technique to summon Manda (and hope that the snake felt lenient enough to help them out) – stopped and stared at his grandson, wondering what the boy had up his sleeves this time. Harry was surprising, and he had had to admit it several times during their journey from England to Japan.

"Aha!" Harry came up again with the flute he had bought at the temple just an hour or so before.

Orochimaru raised a sceptic eyebrow. A flute. Unless his grandson planned to beat the demon over it's three heads with the small instrument, he couldn't exactly see how a flute was going to help. Perhaps Harry wasn't as perfect as he'd thought.

Seeing the older man's look, Harry explained. "It's a little trick I've picked up from an animal-expert I know. I'm not sure if it'll work, but I think it's worth a shot." With that the green-eyed teenager walked towards the beginning of the stone-bridge, and stopped when he was somewhere in the middle.

"There he is brother!" the left head exclaimed. "Can I eat him now? Please!"

'_That's obviously the youngest one,'_ Harry thought to himself. He slowly raised the flute to his lips, and prayed to all the gods that were willing to listen that he still remembered the flute lessons from his time in a normal muggle school. The lessons had been mandatory, and Harry had been rather good. He had often stayed back after school to speak with the music-teacher, and had also gotten a few extra lessons. _'Lets see if those lessons paid off.'_

The first note come out shaky and broke at the middle. The second wasn't much better, nor was the third. But after a few tries, and feeling Orochimaru's if-you-don't-come-to-the-point-soon-I'll-throw-you-off-the-cliff gaze upon his back, Harry found the correct notes and grew more confident.

He played a very simplified version of Secret Garden's '_Nocturne'_. Not only was it a personal favourite, but it was also a song one could relax and fall asleep to. If he remembered correctly Quirrell had charmed the harp to play very calming music back in first year, so he supposed that – for once – he should follow the example of one of his Defence teachers.

"It's very soothing…" the left head nearly purred, it's eyes half-way closed.

The middle head bit the left's ear. "Fool! Don't fall asleep now! It's a trick!" it growled.

The right head snorted. "You're too paranoid! He's just playing a tune as a homage to the great Cerberus that we are! We are one of the nine demon lords, of course he is worshiping the ground we walk on!"

Harry wanted to send an incredulous look towards the Cerberus, but refrained and concentrated even more on the tune he was playing. _'Somnus(sleep)!'_ he thought trying to put as much force behind it as he could. He sent a trickle of chakra into the flute, and at once all three heads started to nod sleepily. Their eyes started gliding shut, the massive body started to sag towards the ground, and not much later the enormous creature was fast asleep and snoring. Harry played the flute for another minute or so before he decided that the creature really was asleep and stopped.

'_My lips are going to hurt,'_ he thought to himself as his lips tingled. It had been such a long time since he had played any kind of instrument, and he was out of practice. _'Bleh!'_

Orochimaru had watched the entire scene. First he had been sceptical, then a thoughtful look had crossed his face. It had been replaced by a calculating one, and finally a smirk had taken up residence on his face. Using sound as a way to fight was something he hadn't really thought about before, but as Harry had just proven it could be very useful. Chuckling to himself, the Snake Sannin admitted that he had been proven wrong once again. Harry really was perfect.

Harry, on the other hand, had walked back to his backpack, and had taken out a traditional Japanese calligraphy set (bought in the last town before Mt. Hiei), and a small wooden, decorated box. It wasn't big, and could easily fit into Harry's palm. It was another thing he had picked up at the temple. The monk who had sold it said that it was used as a container, and that the wards upon the box would keep anything out. At Harry's question the monk had even thrown in one of those _ofuda_ – notes with wards that were placed upon the thing you wanted to ward. At the time Harry had thought that the box would be useful to keep things away from Orochimaru, but now he had another idea – a better idea.

'_Well, hope this thing works.'_ The green-eyed teenager thought to himself and got to work. Not knowing the Japanese alphabets, Harry had to use calculations and arithmancy to make this work, and he silently thanked Hermione over and over for her insistence for himself and Ron to quiz her in her Arithmancy and Runes homework. By the time Harry had finished, the ground around the Cerberus and the dog itself were covered with numbers and runes which led to the little box.

'_I hope the box holds,'_ Harry thought. _'Actually, I hope I didn't do a miscalculation. If I did, this could go very, very badly.'_ Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Harry kneeled behind the box so that he was facing the sleeping Cerberus. He placed his hands a few inches above the open box, the palm of his left hand resting against the back of his right, the fingers stretched out. _'Don't wake up!'_ he prayed, and started.

Orochimaru had watched all of this in silence, wondering what his grandson had up his sleeve this time. It was clear that Harry was using a mix of western and eastern magic, but what he intended to do with the magic escaped Orochimaru at the moment. When the teenager got into position facing the sleeping Cerberus, Orochimaru's eyes widened. Harry was trying to seal the Cerberus into the little box so that it could be called upon for later use. It would be very useful if the younger man actually managed, but so much could go wrong! Harry didn't have the necessary chakra for something like this!

With a hiss of annoyance Orochimaru hurried over and stood behind his kneeling grandson. He placed his hands the same way Harry had them, and let a trickle of his chakra join Harry's. The symbols on the ground glowed with power, and the Cerberus began to glow as well.

Neither of the two humans knew how long they stood there, nor did they care at the moment. This was a very delicate operation, and they couldn't afford to be hasty.

Finally the Cerberus disappeared like a black blur into the little box, and the symbols on the ground slithered away into the box as well. As soon as the lid of the box fell into place, Harry took out the _ofuda_ the monk had given him and wrapped it tightly around the box, before placing the box into his backpack. He looked up at Orochimaru.

The pale man was smirking in triumph. Although both of them were sweaty and out of breath and low on chakra, Orochimaru couldn't have looked happier if he had suddenly learned all the techniques and jutsu the world had to offer – and on top of that had been made the Hokage as well.

"You truly are worthy, my Harry." Orochimaru panted, the smirk on his face never diminishing. "You have given me so much to think about, but not here. Let us get going and find someplace safe, then we shall rest."

Harry just nodded and stumbled to his feet. He had been surprised like hell when he felt Orochimaru's chakra joining his own, but he supposed that the Snake Sannin had realised just how useful a Cerberus could be. However, he had a feeling that although their ideas were pretty much alike, their reasons for doing it were different. Not mentioning this to Orochimaru, Harry shouldered his backpack and followed his grandfather through the shimmering portal at the end of the bridge.

'_Fred and George's communication-medallions are about to be put to the real test.'_

**-x-x-x-x-**

That evening everyone in the Order who were able to come, were gathered in the living room of Grimmauld Place, eagerly watching the paper that was placed on the middle of the small, round table. They were waiting for any news from Harry, all their plans relied upon Harry getting through to the Shinobi Continent and managing to send a message back to them.

Ron and Hermione had told everyone they felt they could trust about Harry's plan, and although many people had protested or just been shocked, they had all realised that there was nothing they could do to stop it now. The plan had already been underway, and preparations were slowly being planned.

Harry's plan was thus: he would journey with Orochimaru to the Shinobi Continent, and after a year he would open the portal to let a trading-caravan through. The trading-caravan would travel through the Shinobi Continent making little outposts here and there – run by Order members of course – and the next time they came one of the Order members would open the portal. This way, they would create a network of Order members, and learn some of the Shinobi-magic if possible. They would also be able to lure Voldemort and his Death Eaters to the Shinobi Continent. A whole continent of fighters had a better chance of survival, than a wizarding world who didn't even dare to speak the Dark Lord's name.

There were millions of things which could go wrong with this plan, of course, and if it hadn't been for the fact that Harry had already been underway through France with Orochimaru when he first contacted Ron and Hermione, the two Gryffindors would've marched off and brought him back kicking and screaming if need be. Now, however, they made the best of it and eagerly waited for Harry's reports, instructions for training and information about anything Shinobi-related.

"A brave lad, that one." Mad-Eye Moody said proudly as they waited. The old Auror was still head of the Order, but Harry was the head of this particular operation, and Mad-Eye had nothing against it. "It takes a lot to give up so much for a world which never liked _him_, just the image he represented."

"He is already changing," Bill said and rubbed the little scar on his cheek. He had brought the kunai knife back to the Order HQs so that they could study it, make more like it, and practice with them.

"Changing is inevitable," Shacklebolt added into the conversation. "Lets just hope he doesn't lose sight of his goals in the long run."

Mrs Weasley sniffed. "I don't even want to think about the things he will be going through, that foolish boy!"

"He must be so lonely with no friends to back him up." Mr Weasley sighed sadly.

"What do you mean, dad?" Charlie asked. "He has got his grandfather Orochimaru, hasn't he?"

Bill shook his head. "You weren't there when Ron and Hermione explained things, Charlie. Nor were you there when I went to deliver that money to Harry. Orochimaru is not good, from what I could gather he is like the Shinobi Continent's Dark Lord." He shuddered and Fleur hugged him. "All I know," the redhead said, "is that even though the money-delivering was an agreed play put on to fool Orochimaru, I was seriously afraid for my life."

The silence which stretched over them was broken by Fred and George. The twins had created a paper specifically for these kinds of meetings – the ones where messages were to be sent to or received from Harry – and instead of appearing in Morse-code, the message would appear normally on the paper.

Now Fred shouted. "Be quiet, something's appearing on the paper!"

Everyone shut up at once and gathered around the table.

Very slowly the message appeared.

'**I am in'** it said.

The people in the room shared a look, then started cheering and hugging and jumping about the room in happiness. The scene would remind any passing muggle of the situations when a satellite was shot from earth and safely landed on Mars or Jupiter or wherever it was supposed to go. The media would always show the tense crew suddenly celebrating like crazy once they got the message. It was that kind of pandemonium.

"First part of the plan is a success!" Ron shouted as he hugged a laughing Hermione and swung her around.

"Prongs would be so proud!" Remus said then was promptly eagerly kissed by Tonks. He didn't protest, instead he just kissed her back. It was difficult though as both of them were laughing.

"Our products are the best!" Fred and George exclaimed and high-fived each other.

"Oh Arthur! He did it! He actually did it!"

"Take that you evil bastard of a Dark Lord!"

"That's our Harry!"

"Bless you boy," Mad-Eye Moody smiled proudly and picked up his own amulet to send a message back to the Boy Who Lived.

'**Excellent job stop keep the reports coming stop awaiting further orders sir stop Mad-Eye Moody stop'**

**-x-x-x-x-**

_**-x-** Four years later **-x-**_

A man named William Jemmings Bryan had once said: "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waiting for, it is a thing to be achieved." Harry somewhat agreed with the man.

It had been four years since he had first stepped onto the Shinobi Continent. Four years of listening to Orochimaru moan and groan about being the best ninja out there and how his greatest wish was to learn all the techniques in the world. Four years of doing exactly what the Snake Sannin said, and four years of patiently working on his own plans.

The negotiations had been difficult, but Hermione had finally managed to convince the monks that simple trade with the Shinobi Continent would be beneficial to them all, and the monks had agreed to open the portal once every six months, so the trading-caravan could enter the Shinobi Continent twice a year.

The ninjas of the Hidden Sand Village – the first village one came to after exiting the portal – had been very suspicious at first, but had also realised just how valuable the trade could be and had allowed the caravan to make a little outpost in their village. It was run by Ginny Weasley.

From there on the caravan had moved throughout the entire Shinobi Continent, and even across the sea to the Snow Country, and members of the Order – or members of the DA – were stationed everywhere they got permission to. Ron, for example, had ended up in the Hidden Mist Village and had just recently managed to achieve Chunnin level.

The plan to lure Voldemort into the Shonabi Continent had also worked well. Harry had begun to send small snippets of where he was to the Dark Lord, making it look as though his Occlumency shields were failing. Riddle had jumped into these small pieces of information like a hungry pariah, and had started to send dementorts, lethifolds and Death Eaters into the Shinobi Continent in search for Harry. This had caused a small problem with the monks and the trade-caravan, but only after Hermione finally spilled the whole plan did the monks agree to let the Dark Lord send his minions through the portal – but they kept careful records of how many of each species that had passed. These records were sent to Harry, and he could make sure he picked them all off.

The villages – both those that were Hidden and those that weren't – paid good money to get rid of dementors and of lethifolds, and this also became a source of income for Orochimaru.

The pale Snake Sannin had for a long time now been talking about starting Otogakure – the Hidden Sound Village – but as of yet, there weren't any concrete plans around that. And when his time wasn't occupied by the Akatsuki, Orochimaru was working to further develop and perfect his Immortality Technique. Harry had almost given himself away when his grandfather had finally told him about the Forbidden jutsu he was working on – a main reason why he was chased out of Konoha. Now he had two immortality-seeking evil bad-guys on his hands, but he had managed to hold himself in check and had eagerly agreed to help Orochimaru as much as he could with the development of the jutsu. This way he hoped he could slow the Sannin down somewhat.

Harry himself had also changed in the past four years, but he didn't like to dwell on that, nor the things he had had to do to make sure that Orochimaru didn't suspect him to have his own agenda. It had been a slow process, but he had finally figured out what one of the remaining horcruxes was, and where it was.

It was the crystal ball of Rowena Ravenclaw, and – true to the tradition of lets-make-things-difficult-for-Harry – it was currently in the disposition of the Hokage, the leader of Konoha.

'_Well, at least Ron and Hermione managed to find Hufflepuff's Cup and destroy it.'_ Harry sighed to himself as he jumped through the trees in search for a couple of dementors which had been terrorising the two nearby villages. One of the villages had hired him to get rid of it, whilst rumours went that the second village had hired a shinobi of some high rank from Konoha. Harry hoped that wasn't true.

All the Hidden Villages knew that Orochimaru had a grandson who was almost Sannin-level, but as the Snake Sannin had never bothered the other villages they didn't pay it much heed. Konoha however, had quickly sent out people, and Harry had been forced to kill a Konoha Jounnin – or occasionally even ANBU. Suffice to say that Konoha was not a happy village at this point.

Upon feeling the familiar cold of the dementors Harry pushed away all other thoughts, and concentrated on his work.

'_The dementors aren't moving,'_ he realised. _'Which means they must've gotten hold of some poor sod.'_ He hurried his pace at this, and reached the two dementors a minute later.

It was as he had supposed. The dementors had gotten hold of a middle-aged man with long, white, spiky-unruly hair, red and green clothes and an enormous scroll tied to his back. The man was pale and shaking, obviously never having experienced anything quite like the dementors before. He held a kunai in one hand, but had clearly realised that one measly kunai wasn't going to cut it. The two dementors were circling the man, slowly sucking the life out of him and bringing him to his knees.

Harry sighed from his crutching position on a branch high above the scene. He supposed he would have to save the poor sod. He stood up, concentrated, made the correct seals and shouted: "_Expecto Patronum_!" the stag leapt out of midair and quickly attacked the two dementors, driving them off. Harry had been working on a Sealing Jutsu for dementors, but he hadn't gotten anywhere yet.

A minute later the two dementors had fled, and the green-eyed man jumped down to the collapsed man on the ground. Carefully Harry approached the body, and poked the elder man with his foot.

No response.

He came closer and rolled the man over. The guy really was weird what with those markings on his face and all. Especially the hair, it was worse than even Harry's and that said something.

'_Is he just acting or is he really out of it?'_ Harry wondered for a second. Deciding that his Good Samaritan deed of the day was done – and as he had already gotten paid – Harry decided to leave the man lying there and be on his way. He had other things to do, and those didn't involve watching over some old geezer napping in the woods. _'He can get home on his own.'_

He hadn't gotten far before a voice behind him yelled, **"Kanashibari no Jutsu!"** _(Body Freeze Skill!)_

It was a technique similar to the _Petrificus Totalus_, the body of the victim froze completely, and only the eyes could be moved. It was a good thing then that Harry had been forced by Orochimaru to practice getting out of the trap, and also to cancel it.

"**Kai!"** _(Cancel!)_ Harry yelled in return, made the correct hand-seal and jumped to a branch higher up at the same time. He turned around and faced the attacker – who proved to be the old man.

The old man didn't look affected by the dementors as he had been before. He didn't look affected at all, which was impossible. The only way that could be was if the man was completely innocent – i.e. a new-born babe – or…

"A bunshin(clone)?" Harry whispered in surprise at the same time the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Chikúsho(damn it)!" he growled as he hurriedly escaped the clearing. There was an enemy around and he had no idea where said enemy was, which was not good. _'The whole thing was a trap! The old man didn't need help! Kusó(shit)!'_

A barrage of kunai and shuriken embedded itself in the tree in front of him, and Harry was forced to drop to the ground to avoid them. As soon as he landed, he was squashed flat to the ground by a human-sized, orange-red frog as it sat on him. Short of apparating away Harry had no chance of ever getting the frog off of himself, and he didn't want to show any more of his skills to the enemy ninja. Instead he tried to remember just who could summon frogs, and he could only come up with two names: Jiraiya and the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha.

"Kusó!" he cursed again and tried valiantly to get away. But the frog was too heavy, and when Harry tried to get a hold of his shuriken or kunai, he discovered that both pouches were missing. _'They were taken whilst I fell,'_ he realised. _'I am a complete idiot! Orochimaru's going to kill me!'_

"Stop struggling, you won't be able to get away." A deep voice said and was accompanied by footsteps. Harry looked up straight into the eyes of his capturer. It was the same old man, just that this one was the real thing and not a clone. "Yes, you do look like him." The man said.

"I am guessing you're the Frog Sannin Jirayia," Harry said. "What do you want?" he then demanded.

"Your eyes are different, though," the old man – Jirayia – continued. Then he suddenly smiled and sat down in front of Harry. "You are very good, Harry. It has taken me a long time to set up this little scene. And the techniques you use, effective yet they don't need a lot of chakra to perform. Wand-Shinobi techniques if I am not mistaken."

Harry didn't say anything, though he relaxed slightly. The way this conversation was heading was piquing his interest, and he decided to wait it out and see what the old man wanted. _'Besides, if he had wanted to kill me, he'd have done it already. Which means that he's here with a deal of some sort.'_ He reasoned. In any case, he could always apparate away if things got dangerous.

Jiraiya held eye-contact. "Many people die because of these creatures created by the Wand-wavers." He started. "You cannot get them all alone, and more and more are coming."

Harry looked away. Yes, that was an unfortunate side-effect of the plan to lure Voldemort to the Shinobi Continent. Civilians died.

"The Yondaime Hokage has agreed to adopt you as a citizen of Konoha as long as you are willing to teach the shinobi the Wand-wavers' techniques – especially ones to defend themselves and others from these soul-sucking creatures." Jiraiya took a hold of Harry's chin and made the green-eyed young man face him again. Black eyes met green. "You would become a tokubetsu(special) Chunnin, or Jounnin or whatever rang the Hokage deems you shall have, and you will be kept under heavy surveillance. But you will not be chased any more by any shinobi and would no longer be labelled as a missing-nin."

By this time Harry's eyes were wide with surprise. The Yondaime was willing to do that? For Harry? The guy must be crazy! Either that, or this was one elaborate trap! His eyes narrowed again, suspiciously studying Jiraiya. What was going on here?

The Frog Sannin sighed upon seeing the look directed at him. "It's no trick, Harry," he said, then stood up. "Think about it at least." He said as a parting and disappeared in a poof of smoke – the shinobi way of apparating. A minute later the large frog disappeared as well, and Harry could finally sit up again. Massaging his back Harry picked up the two pouches that Jiraiya had left a few feet away, and sighed.

Things had suddenly gotten more complicated than ever, and Harry feared that this wasn't the end.

"Kusó!" he cursed one last time before he disappeared. Orochimaru would kill him.

**-x-x-x-x-**

There. Please tell me what you think!

Not much to say this time, I think the chapter explained it all. And although change is necessary, I am trying to keep Harry from changing too much.

I hope you enjoyed the interaction between Jiraiya and Harry, and that you enjoyed Jiraiya in general. He is a difficult character to portray when there are no young ladies around that he can oogle at. **:sigh:**

Thanks to:

stephanie, ShadowHunter Mashell, LenJade, anti-thule, Morrolan, Stratagemini, sunsetfan12, Falling Right Side-Up, CrimsonReality, Kaze Sabishii, Sarah R Potter,FireAngel8723, Ran Hoshino, Xmasgoose, Shadowed Rains, Surarrin, Rachel Sedai, sarah-sama and No 1 You Know


	5. Chapter 5

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Just a simple warning for some cussing later in the chapter, otherwise enjoy!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Five**

Harry hadn't told Orochimaru about the incident with Jiraiya. He needed to think over it himself first, and such an offer wasn't something he could discard lightly. For example, would it be useful for his plan if he transferred himself so to speak, to Konoha? Yes, it would because he'd then be closer to the horcrux, but he would also lose the freedom he had gotten used to whilst with Orochimaru. The Snake Sannin usually didn't care much for what Harry did on his own, as long as it didn't interfere with his plans.

'_This is bothersome,'_ Harry concluded. _'Either way you look at it I will win something, but also lose something equally valuable.'_ He sighed and gave up on his try at meditating. Too many thoughts were currently running through his head, and he wasn't able to concentrate properly. He stood up and looked around his rather bare room.

Orochimaru had found an old, abandoned underground… well, palace for a lack of better words, and the pale man had decided that it would be the perfect place for temporary headquarters. At least until he got more followers and could move more out in the open, and boy was the man busy!

"Harry-kun," Orochimaru's voice brought the younger man out of his musings. The Sannin stood in the doorway of the room, leaning slightly on the jamb.

"Nánì (what is it)?" Harry asked and turned towards his grandfather. He didn't like to have his back turned to the man if he could avoid it.

"I have a mission for you, grandson of mine," the pale man began and led the way down the corridor and towards the exit. "A quintet of recently-declared missing-nins has caught my attention. Don't get me wrong, they are nowhere near us when it comes to power, but they have potential – and can become more powerful with a little bit of training."

"So you want me to go and recruit them, is that it?"

"Precisely!" Orochimaru smirked. "I would have gone myself, but I have a scheduled meeting with the feudal lord. The fool thinks I will protect the Rice Field Country and bring in more money and power once we base Otogakure here." He snorted in contempt, yet the smirk never left his face. "If anything I will be forced to _disband_ the existing ninja-clans if I cannot sway them to work for me."

Harry snorted as well. "Most politicians are fools; it seems to be a requirement for all of them."

The two of them shared a few more chuckles over the stupidity of politicians and feudal lords until they reached the exit, where Orochimaru turned more serious.

"The five people I want you to find are as follows. Sakon and Ukon from the Village of Stone, Jiroubou and Kidoumaru of the Cloud, and Tayuya from Grass. All four are gathered in the Water Country at the moment, near the Hidden Village of Mist."

"Near Mist?" Harry wondered out loud to himself. That could fit in his plan rather nicely.

Orochimaru, mistaking the question, nodded and said, "Yes, near Mist. The Mist has always been slightly more relaxed about missing-nin in their country, putting their faith in their Seven Swordsmen to keep the renegades under control – of course, as long as the missing-nins aren't from Mist themselves. Therefore it is the safest place for new missing-nins until they get used to their new status or join some group or organisation like, for example, the Akatsuki."

The green-eyed young man nodded in understanding, but didn't correct his grandfather's assumption. "Alright, it shouldn't be too difficult to find them, although convincing them will be slightly trickier."

"Don't come back until you have all five of them with you. If they don't want to join, kill them." Orochimaru put a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Don't disappoint me." With that he disappeared on his own mission.

Harry sighed, a sad look entering his eyes for a moment. _'Every time you say not to disappoint you, grandfather, but all I want you to say is 'good luck' or 'be safe'.'_ Shaking these thoughts away, Harry steeled himself. He didn't want Orochimaru to care about him or acknowledge him – he didn't! – he was two-timing the guy for heavens sake!

But still, it would've been nice…

'_Enough!'_ he growled to himself and brought out the communication-medallion from underneath his clothes. _'Time to get to work, but first things first…' _He pressed the numbers 20, 15, 14, 11 and 19 respectively, and then pressed some others. Once done he put the medallion away and went off on his own mission to get the person he had just contacted.

He'd called up on Nymphadora Tonks.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Tonks was currently pretending to be a young, brown-haired woman who ran one of the trading outposts for the caravan. She ran it along with Zacharias Smith of all people. The outpost was located in the closest village to the Hidden Mist. The Mizukage hadn't allowed them to put up the trading-post in the village itself. Ron had, as mentioned, managed to become a Mist Chunnin, but he was the only Order-agent they had inside the walls of the Hidden Village of Mist.

"Wotcher Harry-chan!" the young woman in question exclaimed as she spotted the green-eyed man.

Harry's eyebrow twitched. "Harry-_chan_?"

"Yup! What else am I supposed to call the person I see as my little brother?" Tonks' eyes twinkled happily and she led the way into the little shop. All around the shelves were full of various potions for various uses and strengths, most of them healing-potions. The Order had decided that although it was nice to have a blooming trade with the Shinobi Continent, there were some things that the Shinobi-wizards didn't need to know about. However, if a ninja could pay for it, he could request his weapon to be charmed to an extent with some easy first-year charms. Like, for example, charm his shuriken or kunai to always return to the owner when the owner said the activating word, and similar things.

At Tonks' words Harry smiled. He was reminded of who was his _true_ family.

"Zack!" the metamorphmagus hollered into the shop.

"What is it, Tonks?" Zacharias Smith grumbled as he came down the stairs which led to the living-quarters above the shop. "Oh, hi Potter," he said to Harry.

"I need you to watch the shop for a while," Tonks replied. "It's quite obvious as to why."

The former Hufflepuff nodded. "Yes, yes, and you'll fill me in on it later, I know. Now get going otherwise some Mist-ninja will walk in, spot Potter, and chaos shall reign for the next couple of weeks."

"I knew I could trust you!" Tonks grinned and led the way upstairs. Once they had situated themselves by the kitchen table, she turned to Harry. "So, why are you here exactly? You didn't say that in your Morse-code message, just that you were coming this way."

Harry sighed before starting to talk. "I have a mission for you."

"Really?" the woman demanded, her face lighting up. "I'm so bored around here! The only entertainment is watching the Mist-ninja trying not to lose their composure with Zacharias – his ability to annoy people is legendary around these parts."

"This is no laughing matter, Tonks. It is a long-term mission with extreme chances of failure and death, and you won't be able to see Remus in god knows how long – most likely years!"

"What am I doing?" Tonks had ignored him completely. "Infiltrating the court of a feudal lord to undermine him? I wouldn't have anything against that, the feudal lord of the Water Country has been giving the Order a few problems recently. Am I supposed to capture one of the nine demon lords? Now, that would've been lots of fun! So, what is it? What? What? What?"

"You're going undercover," Harry told her knowing that not even Remus would be able to talk her out of doing the mission at this point. '_Bloody stubborn female.'_

"Undercover? Where? In the Akatsuki?"

The young man shook his head. "As a missing-nin I am currently on my way to convince to join Orochimaru."

Tonks gaped. "You're…wha… Orochi… I…"

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to. As I said, it is insanely dangerous and-"

"Are you crazy! Of course I'll do it! Unfavourable odds and small chances of success! I thrive under those kinds of conditions! So, when do we start?"

"Right away."

"I'll go pack!" Tonks disappeared to what was presumably her room.

'_I hope I've done the right thing,' _Harry thought as he waited for her to return.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Finding Tayuya was easy enough. The woman had bright pink hair, and a manner on par with Bellatrix Lestrange's – perhaps even worse – and that said something.

She was also a rather suspicious little critter.

"What the hell do you two want?" she demanded, being careful to keep her eyes on the two unknown people that had shown up unexpectedly.

Harry smiled charmingly and made a point of it not to seem threatening in any way. "Tayuya-san," he began in his most gentle and polite voice. "We are here on orders from a very powerful individual, and you have caught his attention."

"A thing difficult to do!" Tonks nodded in agreement, playing along perfectly. She had decided to hang back until Harry signalled for her.

"Indeed, and this person wonders if you'd be willing to join his Hidden Village of Sound as a high-ranking shinobi." The green-eyed man finished.

"Who the hell is this bastard you two shits are talking about?" the missing-nin asked. "I ain't going nowhere until you tell me, and I've never heard of the Village of Sound either! You two shits want me to believe that there's some bastard out there powerful enough to start a Hidden Village?"

"Hmmm," Harry hummed, a smirk crossing his face, his green eyes flashing predatorily – not unlike his grandfather's – as he watched the uncouth woman. "Orochimaru-sama can offer you so much power, Tayuya-san."

"Orochimaru?" the pink-haired woman breathed in surprise. "The legendary Sannin?"

"One of the Three, yes," came the hummed reply. "He's the greatest of all, Orochimaru-sama is. Are you willing to join us now, Tayuya-san?"

Tayuya hesitated. Her desire for power was clear in her eyes, but her mind was also just as clearly arguing against it all. Why should she trust two strangers who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, claiming to work for the great Snake Sannin, and saying that the Sannin had taken an interest in her. _Her_, a simple chunnin from Grass who had rebelled against her superiors when they wanted her to take a paperwork-job at the village. The Grass had slightly more traditional views on the roles of males and females in society. It pissed her off to no end!

Whilst the woman thought, Harry had gotten ready to attack. He couldn't have the real Tayuya alive if Tonks was to take her place. They also needed her memories so that if the transformed Tonks met up with a former comrade or enemy of Tayuya's, no one would become suspicious – or, better said, more suspicious than they already were.

"Alright you green-eyed monkey, I'll come along and speak with Orochimaru-san. But! If I don't like the damn deal, I'll kick your asses to the seventh level of hell!" Tayuya said finally.

Harry smirked and made his way over to the pink-haired woman, whilst Tonks made her way up from behind. Tayuya tensed up, but then relaxed when Harry simply and gently took a hold of her chin and turned her head so that she was forced to look into his eyes.

"Just one thing to do before we set off," he told her with a smile and put a friendly arm around her shoulders. "We need to be sure that you won't try to hurt Orochimaru-sama, Tayuya-san."

"How the hell are you going to do that?"

"My companion here will perform the technique in question. It won't hurt a bit, all you have to do is look into her eyes."

Tayuya felt her head being turned again. "Her eyes?" she wondered. What was so special about the unremarkable woman's equally unremarkable eyes?

"Yes, my eyes," Tonks nodded and took a hold of the missing-nin's head. "_Legilimens_!"

The first year at the Auror Academy the students could choose to learn Occlumency and Legilimency, and those who weren't stupid chose to do that, knowing that being an Auror wasn't all just fun and games. Although Tonks was clumsy, she was smart, and she had learned everything she could, and Harry was grateful for it. They didn't have the time it took for him to go through Tayuya's memories and then transferring them to the metamorphmagus. Instead he held the chunnin up as Tonks worked, knowing that this could take some time.

"There, done," Tonks panted and stumbled as her head ached with all the new information. She leaned heavily on a tree, her back to Harry. She knew what he was about to do, and although she wasn't happy about it, she also knew that it was important.

"Wha-what the fuck just happened!" asked Tayuya and looked up at the man that was still holding her up.

"Nothing you need to worry about as you won't be able to tell anyone about it," Harry replied and felt the woman tense. "You see, although you might be useful for Orochimaru-sama, to me you're just in the way." By the end of that sentence his voice had turned cold and hard, and his eyes were the expressionless ones he usually had when he was about to kill. Although Tayuya put up a good fight, she was only a chunnin and there was nothing she could do against Harry. She was killed quickly and her body was disposed of so thoroughly that a Hunter-nin would've been impressed.

Harry turned towards Tonks, only to see a slightly-pale duplicate of the deceased Tayuya staring back at him. "Ready?" he asked simply.

Tonks picked up the weird wired turban-thingy Tayuya had worn, and stuck it on her own head. Although still in shock when she thought just how easily and without remorse Harry – her appointed little brother – had taken a human life, she was determined to go through with the mission. "Lets do this."

The green-eyed man simply nodded. "We still have four people to pick up," he said and the two of them were off.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Finding and convincing the fat Jiroubou, Kidoumaru and Sakon and Ukon to join them wasn't too difficult, and a week later Harry led the quintet towards the Rive Field Country and Orochimaru's chosen headquarters. The five behind him usually spent the day glaring suspiciously at each other, and Tonks also used this time to really get into Tayuya's rough character. The quintet hesitated at the entrance to the underground palace, but then quickly followed Harry. They knew that if they tried to go through the palace alone and without a guide, they would quickly fall victim to the numerous traps placed all around them.

Harry stopped when he came to a rather unremarkable door of steel. He knew Orochimaru was there, he'd seen the little black snake the Sannin had sent at the junction with the three paths. He turned towards the quintet. "Orochimaru-sama is beyond these doors, you will go in one at the time. Ladies first, Tayuya-san." He opened the door for the metamorphmagus.

Tonks made a show of glaring at Harry for that comment and stomped forwards. "Outta the way bastard, and let me show you weaklings how it's done!" she said and went through.

The door was closed after her.

There was a while of silence and then suddenly a scream from the other side of the door.

Harry had to bite his tongue to keep himself from storming into the room and blowing everything up. _'I should've known! I should've known he'd put the Cursed Seal on them! Oh Tonks, what have I gotten you into?'_

"Oi, green-eyes!" Kidoumaru nearly shouted. "What the hell was that?"

Forcing himself to keep cool and calm, Harry replied. "You wanted power in return for joining Orochimaru-sama, and Orochimaru-sama is giving you power, but no one ever said it would be in the normal way – nor did we say it wouldn't be painful."

The males didn't look convinced.

"You can, of course, try to make your way out of here – or try to kill me and Orochimaru-sama – but you will not succeed in either of those. So the best option you have at the moment, is to go in and face whatever awaits you." He opened the door again and waited for the next person to step in.

Jiroubou snorted and after another minute in contemplation, went into the room. A short silence followed, before a muffled shout reached their ears, then silence. Kidoumaru was the next one to enter, and the same happened to him. Finally only Sakon and Ukon stood left in the corridor. The two brothers looked at each other, steeled themselves and entered the room. Harry winced as he heard first Sakon and then Ukon scream. Once the silence had descended, he entered the room himself.

The four missing-nins and one metamorphmagus he had brought were placed in five beds, each bed decorated with warding _ofuda_ and runes. Connected to their bodies were several tubes, their purpose to bring important nutrition to the body whilst the five were asleep. Orochimaru himself was just hooking up Ukon as Harry entered.

'_I am so sorry Tonks,'_ the green-eyed man thought sadly as he spotted the unconscious woman. _'So incredibly sorry…'_

A movement in the corner of his eye – almost too swift to follow – made him raise his arms in a position to protect himself out of sheer instinct, and it was a good thing too as he found himself crashing painfully with the rock wall. Harry groaned and coughed up blood, his back aching terribly. He had barely gotten to his feet when Orochimaru was in front of him, grabbed his neck and pushed him roughly against the wall again.

"What was the meaning of keeping things from me, Harry-kun?" the Snake Sannin demanded. "I found out from a Konoha chunnin unfortunate enough to cross my path, that the _Yondaime Hokage_ had offered to adopt _you_ as a Konoha citizen – and that this happened nearly a _fortnight_ ago! Why didn't I find out from you the second this happened?" the pale man tightened his grasp on the younger one's neck. "You better answer me… Harry."

Harry struggled to breathe, but answered to the best of his abilities nonetheless. "… was suspicious of the offer… didn't want to… bother you… busy with Otogakure… and the perfection of the Cursed Seal and Immortality Technique… Orochimaru…-sama…"

Apparently Orochimaru found his answer satisfying to some extent as he loosened his grip on Harry's neck. "I will let it go this time, Harry, as you have proven in the past four years that your loyalty is solely to me. But do not let it happen again."

Still coughing and wheezing Harry shakily got to his feet. "Hai, Orochimaru-sama."

The Snake Sannin sat down in the simple chair and watched over the computers that showed the vital signs of the five unconscious shinobi. "I want you to accept the offer, Harry-kun, I want to have an agent in Konohagakure. Gain their trust by any means necessary, and report to me whenever possible. And when the time is right…" Orochimaru cut himself off with a sinister chuckle that sent shivers down one's spine. "Go!" he ordered.

Harry bowed, said, "Hai, Orochimaru-sama." And disappeared.

Orochimaru's chuckle sounded through the room again as he studied the five unconscious shinobi. _'Oh son of my daughter, you are truly going to be a perfect vessel once the time is right…' _

**-x-x-x-x-**

There done.

Many of you make the connection between Harry and Kabuto. And you're partially right, I did use Kabuto as a sort of role model, however, Harry will not be Kabuto, although I can't wait until the two of them meet! And now Orochimaru also has the Sound Five (Kimimaro comes in later). I figured that as Orochimaru's personal body-guards that they'd been with him for a very long time, and concerning the rank and strength of these people… Well, if you watch the anime they are pretty pathetic, all of them beat by genin – even in their transformed forms. Which probably means that they sucked royally when they didn't have the Curse Seal – at least that's what I think…

The horcrux in the Hokage's position – the crystal ball of Rowena Ravenclaw – can't possess the Hokage as the Hokage is the most powerful ninja in town, and the diary-horcrux possessed a little girl with no training in magic at all. You do the math. There are, at this point in time, three horcruxes left. Also if you'd followed the show you will know that even though Jiraiya writes that perverted series of his he still keeps in contact with Konoha, and does the occasional information-gathering for them – like with the incident with the Akatsuki. And Harry will not suddenly become some saint again just because eh joined Konoha, and that's all I'm willing to say about that.

My beta complained that Harry got too bloodthirsty, so I threw in some family-angst in this chapter. Hope you liked it, I'm not good with angst at all. About Harry's missing-nin status. I kinda believe that all ninjas belong to either a Hidden Village or a Clan – like the Fuuma Clan in the Rice Field Country. And by association to Orochimaru – a missing-nin – Harry is also declared a missing-nin. Sounds stupid, I know, but just go with it. It's too late to think of another excuse.

Thanks to:

Surarrin, stephanie, Shadowed Rains, Sarah R Potter, Falling Right Side-Up, SensiblyTainted, FireAngel8723, Rachel Sedai, Nocena T. Calamus, candidus-lupus-full Moon, Fallen Dragon, Firehedgehog, Ran Hoshino, cat, disama, Morrolan, Tacticx, dark672 and Shadow Crystal Mage.


	6. Chapter 6

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Um, I don't know the age of Morino Ibiki, so please bear with any mistakes. Otherwise enjoy!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Six**

_'Too many times we stand aside_  
_Let the waters slip away.  
__'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow  
__It has now become today.  
__So don't you sit upon the shoreline,  
__And say you're satisfied.  
__Choose to chance the rapids,  
__And dare to dance the tide.'  
_**'The River' Garth Brooks**

Harry jumped through the trees in a moderate pace whilst contemplating his newest mission. Orochimaru really was a sucker for giving him difficult missions and tasks. He's done it before, given Harry a seemingly impossible task, and then just sat back, relaxed and watched how Harry solved it.

'_This one takes the cake,'_ the green-eyed man thought. _'I know it was the Hokage who offered to adopt me into Konoha's happy family, but I can't just walk up to the gates and demand a chat with the guy!'_

He winced as the muscles in his back made their displeasure about jumping through trees known. Painfully.

Jumping to the ground Harry leaned against a tree and coughed dryly. As far as he was concerned, it was an improvement. The first day after Orochimaru had thrown him into the wall, he'd been coughing up blood and had barely been able to move because of the pain in his back. He suspected he had at least one rib either fractured or broken, as it pained him every time he took a deep breath.

"Damn it!" he groaned still panting for breath. _'How the hell does Orochimaru suppose I am to do this mission as injured as I am? I can barely stand without having to lean on something!'_

The communication medallion around his neck vibrated and heated up for a moment, before it went cold again. Harry slid down to sit at the base of the tree, and brought it out of his shirt. "I need a break anyways," he muttered and opened the medallion to get to the paper hidden within. Even though everything was written in Morse-code, he understood it as if he was reading a kindergarten-level book. One got used to it after a while, and now it was almost odd to read the normal alphabet.

'**Yondaime Hokage has been here in Mist stop A treaty was discussed but I do not know the outcome yet stop Two ANBU are accompanying him stop He is heading home tomorrow stop Ron stop'**

Harry blinked. The Hokage had been in Mist approximately at the same time he had been near the Hidden Village when he had been gathering that quintet for Orochimaru. And now the guy was heading back towards Konoha, and in Harry's general direction at that.

'_Something is definitely wrong here,'_ the green-eyed man thought with a sigh. Usually things were never this easy for him. With Harry's luck, all the missing-nins in the Water Country would band together, attack the Hokage and kill him, and start a war between the two countries. What was it about fate, loving to play chess and playing it with two queens, one of those hidden until it was too late?

"Well, no rest for the wicked, I suppose," Harry groaned again and with a wince got to his feet. Wondering if he would have the time to stop by Zacharias' trading outpost to get a minor healing potion, he started once again on his journey through the trees.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Harry debated stopping for the night, but decided against it. Perhaps he would make a better impression on the Hokage if he looked dead tired when he came to their aid, as some missing-nins were bound to attack. Yeah, right, as if. One didn't become Hokage – rumoured to be the most powerful of the kages – because one went with first impressions. A Hokage had to see underneath the underneath of the underneath, and Harry should probably prepare himself for a very thorough interrogation by Konoha's ANBU Interrogation Squad.

'_Hopefully it will be worth it,'_ he thought.

He found the trio from Konoha in the early hours of the morning, just on the border between Water Country and Wave Country. The Yondaime Hokage and his ANBU escort were fending off the attacks of numerous missing-nins that had banded together, and – although serious – all three people from Konoha looked more annoyed than worried. The ground was littered with dead shinobi, and the evidences of powerful jutsu being used was everywhere.

"**Jouro Senban!"** _(Raining Needles!)_ a missing-nin from the Hidden Rain shouted as he threw his umbrella into the air. The umbrella opened and started spinning and flinging hidden needles in all directions, mostly hitting other missing-nin, though some did embed themselves into the arms of the fighting ANBU and the Yondaime Hokage, but not enough to do much damage.

"**Doton: Doryuu Taiga!"** _(Earth Element: Moving Land River!)_ The Yondaime Hokage shouted and a landslide of mud formed under the feet of the enemy, smashing them against trees and the ground, and keeping them there with the pressure of the mud.

"**Doton: Doruki Gaeshi!"** _(Earth Wall Land Flip!)_ a shinobi from the Hidden Village of Stone stopped the landslide of mud by producing a large, thick wall of earth. It rose up into the air twice the height of a normal man, and it effectively stopped the mud, which hardened as soon as the golden-haired Hokage removed his chakra from it. One of the ANBU dashed in and killed the Stone shinobi whilst the man was catching his breath.

'_Well, it seems as though this time quality wins over quantity,'_ Harry mused to himself on his perch high above the fight. His eyes narrowed slightly. _'Missing-nins usually don't band together like this out of the blue without someone pushing and egging them on. Any of the organisations made of missing-nins have very high standards for their members, and none of these attackers would pass any of the trials. Hmm…' _green eyes glittered in thought. _'Orochimaru… or someone else…?'_

Even though the blond Hokage had been separated from his two ANBU-escorts, it was clear that he didn't need any help yet. Perhaps when he got tired, Harry could jump in like a knight in shining armour and save them all. He briefly wondered whether it was possible to kill your own Gryffindor conscious.

Or he could wait, set lose the Cerberus and pretend to save the trio that way – without them knowing that the Cerberus now served him as a Summoning Animal.

The Slytherin in him had, once again, insured its longevity whilst the Gryffindor-side was kicked off a mental cliff, accompanied by an evil laugh and dance from the Slytherin-side.

He was just getting ready to perform the correct hand-seals to summon the giant three-headed dog, when he noticed something. Rather, he sensed it. It tickled his brain for a second before he recognised what it was.

'_Wand-magic!'_ he thought in surprise. It had been quite some time since he had felt this kind of wand-magic as the agents and outposts all around had agreed to only use it in life-or-death situations, and this wand-magic didn't feel like the normal household spell or Cheering Charm. It felt offensive, attacking.

'_Death Eaters. Three of them, I believe.'_ His mind supplied. With a curse and no longer caring if he was discovered, Harry jumped from his perch and ran as fast as he could towards the Hokage and the two ANBU. He killed the missing-nins he passed on his way, he was too fast for most of them to react, and those that did react still got injured.

"Hokage-sama!" one of the ANBU shouted and tried to make his way to his leader as it was obvious that the green-eyed shinobi was headed that way. "Watch out!"

The Hokage turned towards the newest addition and got ready to defend himself, his blue eyes hard and not giving any indication if he was disappointed or not that his offer apparently hadn't been accepted.

'_Idiot!' _Harry's mind screamed. _'Do not turn your back on the Death Eaters!'_ he drew his wand which he usually carried in a secret pocket made just for it, and started to sort through any wand-spells he knew. In a duel between wand-users you had to be quick, one didn't have the time to make hand-seals, no matter how fast one was. A kunai was brought up in his other hand.

"Hokage-sama!" both ANBU yelled, but they were detained from helping because of all the still-attacking missing-nins.

Harry's kunai clashed with the Hokage's.

Blue eyes met green.

Three shimmers between the trees caught his attention. It looked as though heat was travelling at great speeds towards them.

Harry used the other's kunai as leverage and jumped over the Hokage's head, landing in a crouch on the other side. He dropped the kunai, brought up his wand and whispered, "_Protego_!"

Three Dark Arts curses and spells bounced off the shield with a loud sound and either hit a tree or a missing-nin. Neither the tree nor the missing-nins survived the encounter, rather they died in rather horrible and painful ways. One man had his skin ripped off his bones, another's brain literally dripped out of his nose, and the poor tree rotted away in seconds.

Everyone stared, and for a moment nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen until three black-clad, white-masked Death Eaters stepped out from the trees, their wands raised. They stopped when they spotted just who it was that had blocked their spells.

"Potter!" all three hissed hatefully almost in synch, and Harry smirked. He hadn't had a good duel in ages.

That seemed to be the signal everyone had been waiting for. The smarter missing-nins escaped the scene at once, the less smart tried to attack again, but soon gave up, and the really dumb ones were already dead. The Hokage of Konoha and his two ANBU just stood off to the side and watched the wand-duel progress, occasionally moving out of the way of some spell or another. Even to them the duel was moving fast, the four people fighting disapparating and apparating all over the place, never staying at one place longer than it took to throw a curse or spell.

"_Reducto_!" Harry shouted before disapparating.

"_Protego_! _Avada Kedavra_!"

A second Death Eater appeared just long enough to shout, "_Alvus Abigere_!" **(Stomach Expel!)** which would cause your innards to rip through the skin if it hit, before he disappeared again.

"_Incendio_!_ Crucius_!"

"_Incarcerous_!"

Suddenly one Death Eater fell, his throat cut and still oozing blood. Harry appeared standing over him, blood coating his clothes and one side of his face. Another Death Eater took this chance to attack the green-eyed man, but was rewarded with a _Reducto_ followed by three shuriken. The _Reducto_ he ducked, but he hadn't expected the throwing-stars and one of them embedded itself in his forehead, breaking the ghostlike white mask.

The last Death Eater took off his mask, only to reveal the smirking, aristocratic face of Lucious Malfoy. "-Bravo, Potter, you really have improved.-" The white-blond man said in English, pretending to clap his gloved hands.

Harry got into a defensive stance, never taking his eyes off the other man. He also made sure that he was standing between Malfoy and the Hokage of Konoha. Lucious Malfoy was not a man to be taken lightly.

"-Malfoy.-" He replied in English as well. It felt weird to use English again after speaking Japanese for so long. "-What do you want?-"

"-Do not play stupid with me, boy! You know whom I want. You are protecting him and his two little sidekicks!-"

Green eyes narrowed. "-Yes, I suppose that offing the leader of the Fire Country would be beneficial to Voldemort.-" He felt someone gathering chakra behind him, readying themselves for an attack. He continued to speak. "-Unfortunately, I need the guy alive. Conflicting interests are so annoying, don't you think?-"

Malfoy snorted, a smirk on his pale face. "-Quite. Well, it seems as though this person has led us to the position that one of us must die so that the other one can continue with his objective.-"

Harry got ready, balancing on the balls of his feet. "-Bring it on, Blondie.-"

"-Your death? Gladly!-" with that Lucious Malfoy attacked.

At this point several things happened in quick succession.

"**Daijigoku no Jutsu!"** _(Big Hell Technique!)_ one ANBU shouted as he slammed his hands to the ground, creating a great sucking whirlpool in the earth. Both Harry and Malfoy were forced to apparate out of its range.

"**Doton: Doryuudan!"** _(Earth Element: Earth Dragon Missile!)_ the Yondaime Hokage shouted and the previously hardened mud turned watery again. A dragon's head took shape and rose up; it opened its jaws and shot balls of hard-packed mud at the two wizards, although clearly aiming for Malfoy.

Malfoy laughed. "Your little tricks aren't going to work!" he shouted in Japanese whilst bringing his wand up. "_Protego_! _Crucio_! _Avada_ _Kedavra_!"

"_Protego_!" Harry cried. The shimmering shield wouldn't stop either curse, but hopefully it would slow them down enough for the ANBU and Hokage to get out of the way. He needn't have worried. Both ANBU and Hokage had jumped out of the way the second they had seen Malfoy raise his wand.

The second ANBU appeared behind the aristocratic Death Eater. **"Jyuuken: Hakke Rokujyuu Yonshou!"** _(Gentle Fist: Sixty-Four Points of Divinity!)_

"A Hyuuga!" Harry couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice. Those damn ANBU-masks didn't let him see the person's eyes, so he hadn't known. _'No wonder the Hokage didn't bring more ANBU as escort!'_

Malfoy didn't have time to react before the ANBU had closed off sixty-four of his chakra-holes with precise hits of his fingertips. The last hit sent the blond flying backwards, and he crashed painfully to the ground. Panting he staggered to his feet, and glared, his blond hair which had been immaculate, was now disarrayed and was no longer held by the piece of black string.

"-Bastards,-" he panted and raised his wand. "-You will all pay for that!-"

"_Incarcerous_!" Harry yelled and ropes shot out of his wand. Thanks to the Hyuuga and his Gentle Fist Style, Malfoy didn't have the required amount of power to either get out of the way or deflect the ropes heading for him. The man fell with a curse and Harry didn't waste his time casting _Expelliarmus_ and a stunner to keep the guy down. The green-eyed man panted. He hadn't had this much actions in a long time, nor had he had to use so much wand-magic either. He was getting rusty.

He turned towards the Hokage and the two ANBU flanking him. "Your offer, Fire-shadow," he began, observing the trio, "does it still stand? And is it up for slight discussion?"

The Hokage didn't look surprised. He smiled, his sky-blue eyes lighting up. "I do believe it is." He replied, a small, cautious smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

Harry smirked and straightened, his green eyes glittering. "Good. Then lets talk business."

**-x-x-x-x-**

The guards at the gate stared. The people doing their daily shopping stared. The passing shinobi stared, sometimes missing a step or completely forgetting what they were doing, and hereby ending up in situations that ninja – with their high senses – should not end up in.

Harry hated it. Once again, people were staring at him and whispering.

He was walking between the two ANBU that had accompanied the Hokage, and the Hokage himself was walking ahead of them clearing a path towards the Hokage Tower. That was the place where they would have their talk, and Harry knew that several ANBU were going to be there during the discussion. But first he was going to be thoroughly interrogated by a ANBU Interrogation Squad officer, which was not going to be fun.

'_Something wicked this way cometh,'_ the green-eyed man thought sarcastically to himself as he spotted a couple of ninja – one chunnin and another a jounnin – look at him, then turn to each other and whisper frantically. Harry continued to hold himself straight, his head held high as he walked between his watchers.

"Is that…?" he heard someone whisper.

"It is! It's _HIS_ grandson, the one we've been hearing about these past four years." Another replied.

"What is he doing here?"

Another couple of whisperers caught his attention. "Does Hokage-sama really know what he's doing, bringing someone like _that_ into the village?"

"Are you sure he won't attack us all?"

"Better be on your toes."

And that's the way it was throughout the entire village. Harry was almost positive he saw someone he could classify as an Uchiha run away from the throng at one point, and he had definitely seen several Hyuuga's around as well. There was an Inuzuka and their dog which followed them, the dog constantly sniffing at Harry to get a hold of his scent in case he tried to escape. Harry followed a bug with his eyes which had been flying around his head the past couple of seconds, and it flew straight towards a man wearing glasses.

'_An Aburame,'_ he concluded, remembering everything Orochimaru had told him about the bug-using clan. _'All the time spent with Orochimaru and studying every Hidden Village in as much detail as possible, has been useful. One of the few good things I got from the old snake.'_

A larger group of ANBU met them outside the Hokage Tower.

"Hokage-sama," their leader – who was dressed in a beige cloak – greeted them. "What are your orders?" even with the mask, Harry knew the guy was staring at him, waiting for him to make a wrong move.

"Could you find Jiraiya-san and Sarutobi-san and ask them to come here?" the Yondaime Hokage asked politely. "And also call for the best interrogator we've got."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." The man behind the rabbit-mask replied, and with a few quick hand-motions to his team sent three of them to get the previously-mentioned people. "The rest of us will stay here to serve as extra protection." He was very blunt with that one.

"Thank you." The Hokage smiled and led the way into the Hokage Tower. Harry was quickly led to a bare room of stone, with only one chair in the middle. The ANBU placed themselves around the walls, and Harry sat down in the chair, allowing the ANBU Commander to close the metal straps tightly around his wrists, ankles, neck, torso and biceps.

'_They will use a milder form of Veritaserum, and even thought it's milder it works just as well.'_ The green-eyed man thought to himself. He looked around the room, then focused on the Hokage himself. The man hadn't done anything to make Harry's journey with him to Konoha unpleasant in any way. Harry hadn't been bound, he hadn't been starved, nothing, and Harry had decided that something like that deserved respect. He'd tell the Hokage everything he knew, about his plan, about Orochimaru's plans, about the horcruxes, about Voldemort, about the Wizarding World if asked, everything. Then he'd suggest his deal to them. Whether they took it or not, Harry would come up on top in one way or another – hopefully.

The interrogation-specialist arrived along with three others. One was a younger man in an ANBU outfit, another was Jiraiya who sent Harry a satisfied look, and the third was an old man. Harry supposed he was the Sandaime Hokage and Orochimaru's former teacher, Sarutobi-san.

"Hokage-sama," the interrogation-specialist turned towards his leader. "I hope you don't have anything against my apprentice, Morino Ibiki, watching this interrogation?"

The blond-haired man smiled. "Nope, not at all."

"Then we will start." The man turned back towards Harry and withdrew a vial of clear potion from his utility bag. He quickly filled up a sake-cup with the correct amount and let Harry drink it. A few seconds later, Harry could feel himself become almost removed from the room, and everything he did – breathing, blinking – went on autopilot.

"He's ready." The interrogation-specialist said.

The Hokage nodded, and his blue eyes turned hard. "Lets begin then."

The other man nodded and started. "What is your name?"

"Harry James Potter."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

**-x-x-x-x-**

Harry didn't know how long it lasted. The questions were endless, probing, personal. They brought up old memories rather left forgotten, they brought up old dreams that had been given up. He knew he had been angry at one time, another time a few tears had run down his cheeks. All that the green-eyed man knew at the end of it all, was that he felt as naked as a new-born babe. Everyone in the room knew everything.

Finally the Yondaime Hokage ordered for the interrogation to stop, and for Harry to be given the antidote. "He's said enough for now. Let him rest. Get a healer in here to look at him, Orochimaru might have seriously injured him. The rest of you can leave, but I would like for Jiraiya-san and Sarutobi-san to stay."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." The ANBU left, and Harry was left in the room with the Hokage, Jiraiya, Sarutobi and the interrogation specialist. The man's apprentice, Morino Ibiki, had gone to fetch a healer.

Harry panted as the antidote started working. "I hope that was enough information for you." He said, his voice raspy and hoarse after all that talking.

"For now yes." Sarutobi-san said, his eyes kind.

The blond Hokage man came closer. "You asked if my deal was up to discussion when we met. What did you mean by that?"

The green eyes sparkled mischievously as Harry started to talk. "I am willing to spy on Orochimaru for you," he started. "I am also willing to teach your shinobi wand-magic – or, as much as I can of it. I want the horcrux in return, and wand-magic is not easy, I cannot have its secrets leaking out all over the place. Therefore those who learn under me will be bound to me in a manner. They will not be able to talk to anyone not approved by me about the magic I teach them, but they will not be forced to join or do things they would never do."

Jiraiya hmm-ed. "You will be triple-crossing Orochimaru and double-crossing us." He pointed out.

Harry smirked. "Yes, but you will know about it."

"If that is so, then I want at least one of my personal ANBU guards in your group," the Yondaime Hokage said. "Whether or not he learns the wand-magic doesn't concern me. He will watch over you for me, keeping you in line, and he will be reporting back to me regularly. Understood?"

"Crystal clear. I will not put the spell on that ANBU, but I will only allow one person."

Sarutobi-san decided to speak up. "This is not going to be easy. People are not going to trust you anytime soon, Harry-san, and if you move too fast up the ranks of our shinobi, Orochimaru is going to get suspicious. This will take _time_."

"We have time. All my agents are in place, and this is the only the next step in the plan."

"A dangerous deal." Jiraiya muttered seriously. "A dangerous situation on the whole."

"So, what's it going to be, Hokage-san?" the green-eyed man asked as he stood up from the chair.

The blond Hokage grinned, and stuck out a hand. "I'll take that deal!" he said.

Harry smirked and gripped it firmly.

The deal and the future were sealed.

**-x-x-x-x-**

There. Please tell me what you think.

About Itachi and Sasuke and Orochimaru's interest in the Sharingan. Well, to put it simply, I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer yet. Though I do have some ideas, I am not sure in which direction the story will take me. All information about the Cerberus and why it is now Harry's Summoning Animal, will come later, in a few chapter's time.

Finally someone asked me about Orochimaru's age. I'd been wondering when someone was going to! **:grins:** Here's the answer I came up for that. The way I see it shinobi live rather short and stressful lives, and therefore are exposed to the sexual side of things earlier than others might be. Orochimaru, the way I figure it, was about 17 years old when he met the future Mrs Evans and got her pregnant. If you count approximately 19 to 20 years for Lily to go to school and all that, and then another 16 to 17 before he searched for Harry, it would make the Snake Sannin approximately 34 by my calculations. At this point in time Orochimaru is around 40 years of age, and is planning to take his first vessel very soon. Hope the explanation helped.

I am sorry to say that I will be unable to update '_Know Why the Nightingale Sings_' until the renovations on the first floor are done with. All my information and data for that story has been put away completely, and it will take too much to find it again. But perhaps, if I am feeling totally bored one rainy day, I might jump into the mess and search for it. One can only hope that the workers are done quickly…

Thanks to:

Rachel Sedai, korrd, Falling Right Side-Up, Morrolan, Sarah R Potter, Kam, anti-thule, Shadow Crystal Mage, Ran Hoshino, Firehedgehog, creator-of-randomness, Sk8er7, Fattyaddy-99, candidus-lupus-full Moon, Agent Spielplatz, APS, Tilli and Gato-sama.


	7. Chapter 7

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Um, a warning for insanity and corruption of innocent gennins. Yeah, that's about it…

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter** **Seven**

The Yondaime Hokage assigned Harry two ANBU-members to both help him set up the new class in wand-magic, and also to keep a firm eye at him. The green-eyed man also suspected the two made sure that none of the numerous shinobi Orochimaru had insulted in one way or another at some point in time, didn't try to kill him in his sleep as a form of revenge.

The two guards he'd been assigned were the two ANBU that had accompanied the Hokage to the Hidden Village of Mist, and whom he'd already met. And despite their tough line of work, both Hyuuga Manji and Umino Kisuke were very nice people.

'_Except for the fact that Hyuuga Manji seems to be teetering on the verge of insanity.'_ Harry mused as the three of them walked to where his new apartment was. The Hyuuga in question was currently waxing poetic about his girlfriend, spontaneously hugging people left and right and scaring them out of their wits. He was probably scarring them mentally for life as well. _'I am starting to wonder if coming here was a good thing at all.'_

"Ano, Umino-san," Harry started whilst keeping a vary eye at the hyper Hyuuga. "Is he always like this?"

"Unfortunately, yes," the ANBU replied. "I am afraid you will just have to get used to it, Potter-san."

"Feel the love all around!" the Hyuuga exclaimed and hugged a passing gennin dressed in a green spandex and with bowl-cut, black hair. "Isn't she beautiful?" a picture of the woman in question was stuck under the gennin's nose. "She's like the springtime of youth! It never waits for you, so don't let it get away!"

The gennin was wide-eyed, but surprisingly enough not with fear. Rather he looked like he had just found his role model, his eyes glittered in awe. The gennin's teacher and team mates just looked freaked out.

"G-Gai," the jounnin-teacher grabbed the lad's attention. "L-lets go, we have to complete at least four missions today."

"Hai, Urahara-sensei!" the gennin, Gai, ran up ahead. "Lets go everyone! As ANBU-san said, the springtime of youth never waits for anyone! Yosh!"

The other two gennin's ran after him. "Gai! Wait for us!"

The jounnin-teacher turned to the Hyuuga with an annoyed look. "Was that really necessary, ANBU-san? Maito Gai is hyper enough as it is!"

"What are you talking about?" Hyuuga Manji asked, a grin hidden behind his mask. "I was testing the boy's perception and reflexes – none of which are very good at this point." He held up what was clearly Gai's utility-pouch. Every ninja had one, from gennin to sannin. "Would you mind giving this back to him?"

'_The perfect picture of innocence,'_ Harry thought as he watched the odd situation. _'Not even Fudge would fall for that.'_

The jounnin blinked, growled and grabbed the pouch. "Couldn't you have found another way to test the boy, ANBU-san? We just stopped him from quoting that stupid movie, 'Star Wars', and now he's going to be quoting you for kami-sama knows how long!"

"Isn't life just wonderful?" the Hyuuga almost skipped over to where Harry and Umino were waiting. "Lets go!"

"You're insane." Harry declared. "I'm really starting to regret ever coming here."

"No you're not!" the man skipped off in front of them.

Green eyes turned to Umino. "How do you stay sane around him?"

Umino Kisuke sighed and shook his head. "I'm wondering about that myself."

Hyuuga Manji just laughed and led the way through the town to a building which was one of those owned by the Hokage and the Administration, and newly-made bachelors and orphans were placed there until they could earn enough money to buy their own apartments. Until then the Administration would pay for the water, electricity and heat.

The man who dealt with the day-to-day running of this particular complex, met them in the doorway of one of the apartments on the ground floor. He stared at them from underneath his bushy eyebrows, his eyes narrowing when they finally reached Harry. The green-eyed man remained impassive. He had known he'd be getting some evil looks if he ever joined up with Konoha, and he'd been proved right time and time again this day alone.

"So," the man with the bushy eyebrows started, "this is _HIS_ grandson, is it?"

Umino Kisuke decided to speak up. "Hai. Hokage-sama asked for an apartment to be readied a couple of weeks ago. Is it ready?"

"Che, unfortunately." The man sneered and spat on the ground at Harry's feet. "I'll be keeping a sharp eye at you, snake-spawn. We don't know if you're a spy for _HIM_ or not, and if you aren't a spy, what's to stop you from backstabbing _us_ like you did your own grandfather?"

"That's enough." Hyuuga stepped between them. "This is nothing of your concern, Kurosaki-san."

"It is when he's going to be living in _my_ complex!"

"This complex belongs to Hokage-sama and the Administration, you only run it from day-to-day. Now show us the apartment."

Kurosaki snorted, sneered and spat again. "Consider yourself lucky, snake-boy," he growled to Harry. "If it weren't for Hokage-sama, you wouldn't even be here, but dead and the world would've been a better place all around." He led them up to the topmost floor and to an apartment at the end of the hallway. He unlocked the door, threw the keys to Harry and disappeared downstairs again.

"I am sorry about that, Potter-san," Umino said as he and Harry followed the Hyuuga into the apartment.

Harry shook his head. "Nothing to apologise for, I'd react the same way if it were me." He said. _'But one has to wonder. Am I as bad as Voldemort for double-crossing my own grandfather?'_

"The apartment's clear. There's no one here except us, and I can't detect any traps." Hyuuga Manji reported, and all three relaxed enough to take a look around the place.

All in all the apartment wasn't all that bad, or big. It was a three-room apartment. The largest room serving as a living room/kitchen/entrance triple-whammy. The other two rooms were the bathroom and the bedroom respectively. There was a closet in the hallway outside the apartment with various household equipment which was shared between everyone on that floor. There was a small TV, a few empty bookshelves, an old sofa, and one of those low, Japanese tables which made up the living room. There was a chest of drawers in the bedroom and the floor was covered with tatami mats, but nothing else yet. The small bathroom consisted of a shower-stall, a toilet and a sink.

'_Better than I'd have thought,'_ Harry mused as he once again stood in the main room._ 'And it's all mine until I can get one of my own. I must admit, I've gotten tired of either camping outside in the middle of nowhere, or sharing a room in a dingy inn with that snake which passes itself as my grandfather.'_

"Not too big, but enough for a bachelor," Umino Kisuke said.

"One of us will stay with you at all times in the first couple of weeks," Hyuuga Manji took over. "I'll stay here for the first week, then Kisuke-kun will stay for the second, and we'll switch on and off like that until Hokage-sama feels it's safe that no one will try to kill you in your sleep."

"Thank you." Harry didn't know what else to say really. It was a lot more than he'd expected, even from someone as the Hokage of Konoha who was known for his kindness.

"You get your things first, Manji-san," Umino said. "I'll go to the shop just across the street to get us something to eat, and when you get back we can go out to buy the most necessary household equipment."

The Hyuuga nodded. "I'll be back as soon as possible." With that and a hand-seal he was gone in a puff of smoke.

Umino stretched before he turned to Harry. "Tomorrow, Manji-san and I will help you to start up the new, well, class I suppose one could call it. We will probably have to ask Sarutobi-sama for help in picking the correct candidates, he knows who'd be the best ones I think."

The green-eyed man nodded and eased himself onto the sofa. Although the Healer-nin had fixed any injuries he had, the man had told him to take it easy for a couple of days. "I will have to personally meet and greet with every candidate before I admit them into the class." His stomach gurgled, loudly begging for food.

"Right, the food. The password is 'flower', we'll knock three times. Both Manji-san and I have used the password before, so we know it." The pleasant, brown-haired ANBU slid his mask back over his face.

"Umino-san, one thing before you go. What happened to Malfoy?"

"Mal… foy…" the man stumbled over the name. "That is the blond man who attacked Hokage-sama, right? He is currently in the holding cells at the Hokage Tower. We are careful to keep him knocked out long periods of time, at least until Hokage-sama has the time to interrogate the man."

Green eyes flashed. "When the time comes, I ask to be there. I have some questions myself for that man."

The ANBU nodded. "I'll tell that to the Hokage, but he will decide. Now, I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

Harry blinked and Umino was gone. He groaned in pain and lay down on the sofa. His back was killing him, his ribs were killing him, he had a headache from the Veritaserum, and how the hell he'd managed to keep it all from showing was way beyond his muddled understanding. All he wanted to do was sleep and sleep and sleep some more. And then, when he'd woken up, get right back into bed and sleep again. But he couldn't; his two babysitters were taking him shopping as soon as they returned, and his nights would probably be very busy with avoiding attacks from angered shinobi.

'_Bloody hell! And I still need to tell Remus about Tonks. Gods, the werewolf is going to kill me for this!'_ he groaned again. _'And I need to speak with the agents we have in the Hidden Villages. Starting a group of wand-magic users in each village is not a bad idea, but it will take too much time if I were to travel around and teach them myself. This is getting too bothersome…'_ he slipped slowly into a half-asleep state. Orochimaru would've killed him if he'd known that Harry was allowing himself to relax in what was supposedly enemy territory. But the Snake Sannin wasn't here at the moment, so Harry didn't think much over it.

Even though he was almost completely asleep, his years as seeker had given him a great deal of situational awareness, and his years as a shinobi had only enhanced the skill to know where everything was at all times. Therefore he quickly picked up on the presence which entered the apartment. It definitely wasn't Hyuuga or Umino, both would've knocked and used the password, and Harry had gotten to know some of the signature of their chakra. And besides, the person who entered was young, and although they were good, they were inexperienced and very emotional at this point in time. All this he could deduce from listening to the footsteps and the person's breathing pattern.

'_Yep, not much sleep tonight.'_ Harry thought to himself and got ready to spring into action.

A female voice whispered: **"Senai Jashuu!"** _(Hidden Snake Hands!)_

Harry rolled of the sofa and barely avoided the snakes speeding towards him. He knew the second those words had been uttered just who his attacker was. Orochimaru had only had one student before he betrayed Konoha, and he'd only taught that particular technique to her and Harry.

His attacker was none other than Mitarashi Anko.

The snakes retreated into the young girl's sleeve, and her brown eyes met Harry's green ones.

"So you avoided my Snake Hands," Anko sneered. "You're as fast as Orochimaru-sens… as Orochimaru ever was."

"Nice to meet you too, Mitarashi-san." Harry replied as he got up again. "Orochimaru told me much about you. Said that you were very fun to… _play_ with." He'd phrased the sentence that way deliberately. If he could make her angry, she would most probably make a mistake. Or they would trade words long enough for either Umino or Hyuuga to return. He couldn't kill her, which was quite obvious. Everything he'd worked for would then be shot down the drain.

Anko's eyes narrowed in anger. "**Senai Jashuu**!" three snakes shot out from her coat-sleeves and towards the green-eyed man.

"_Serpensortia Maximus_!" Harry called forth ten snakes which attacked Anko's snakes in midair, writhing and wriggling, and finally falling to the floor where Anko's snakes disappeared in puffs of smoke. "My _grandfather_ said that you were so much fun that he'd love to play with you again, Anko."

"Shut up!" she yelled and threw shuriken at him.

Harry deflected them easily. "He even gave you a parting gift." He continued.

"_SHUT_ _UP_!" Anko attacked him with her own kunai.

He pushed her back. "Are you _jealous_, Anko-chan?"

"YOU BASTARD!" the teenager attacked again and again, and every time she was thrown back. "Doshìte(why)?" she demanded. "Why did he leave! Why did he leave me! WHY! Why did he choose _you_, someone he'd never met, over _me_! Wasn't I good enough for him? I was his apprentice! I did everything perfectly! I-!" a sob made its way through her angry façade.

Harry felt pity for her. The poor girl really had been played for a fool by Orochimaru, especially if she still hated the man's guts so thoroughly after four years. He warded off her next series of attacks without aggravating her further. He didn't have the heart to do it.

It was at this point that both Hyuuga Manji and Umino Kisuke broke through the door and grabbed the attacking kunoichi. Hyuuga Manji knocked her out swiftly by pressing a few pressure-points, and everyone relaxed slightly. Harry dispelled the snakes still hissing on the floor, and Umino brought Mitarashi Anko to the Hokage and reported the incident. When he returned both Hyuuga and Umino escorted Harry to get the essential household equipment. It was dusk by the time they were finished putting things away, and Umino went home whilst Hyuuga occupied the sofa. Harry was in the bedroom, lying on the futon he'd gotten. Whilst it wasn't one of the four-poster beds in the Gryffindor dormitory at Hogwarts, it was still better than lying on the ground itself.

'_And with a bad start, my time in Konoha begins.'_ He thought. _'Hope the rest of it isn't as disastrous as today was.'_

**-x-x-x-x-**

"Well, how about that young chunnin?" Hyuuga Manji suggested. "Hatake Kakashi. He's a genius all around, becoming chunnin at twelve years of age."

Umino Kisuke looked reluctant to write up the name. "But he's still just a child. He shouldn't have to deal with the things shinobi do at his age."

Harry looked at them both. "This Hatake Kakashi hasn't even reached his teens, and already he's a chunnin?"

The two ANBU nodded. "The boy's a genius, but because of that he had no real childhood." Umino said. "He graduated from the Academy at the age of five I believe, and his teacher was Hokage-sama himself – before he became the Hokage of course."

"His two team mates are still gennin," Hyuuga added. He scratched his head. "I don't really know, Kisuke-kun. Are you sure you don't want to add him to the list? I heard he's a candidate for ANBU. What about you, Harry-san? What's your opinion?"

Harry closed his eyes thoughtfully. He had already been in Konoha for a week, and except the odd assassination attempt here and there, nothing was wrong. They were well on their way with the list of candidates for the wand-magic class, and the special classroom he had asked the Hokage for was also almost finished. Everything had gone smoothly, and the reports he got from the other villages were good as well.

'_Everything's going so well it's almost scary.'_ He thought to himself before he turned his attention back to the problem at hand. "Hatake Kakashi will be added to the 'perhaps' list." He finally decided. They had three lists of names. One was for those they were sure they would ask to join the class (it was also the shortest), they had another for those they were sure they didn't want in the class (it was the longest), and thirdly they had a list for those people they weren't sure about.

"How is it going so far with the lists?" the Hokage's voice made them look up. The man himself was standing in the doorway of the room, the seemingly ever-present smile on his lips.

"Very well, Hokage-sama," Umino replied with an answering smile. "We're a bit stuck at the moment though."

The Hokage grinned even more. "Well, then, I believe this is the perfect time for a break. Besides, I must borrow Potter-san for a while. You two go relax, you've earned it."

"Arigato, Hokage-sama!" both ANBU replied and, after bidding their green-eyed charge a quick goodbye, disappeared in two puffs of smoke.

Harry stood up and stretched. "What can I do for you, Hokage-san?" he asked. He had kept the -san suffix instead of the -sama. It showed that although he was willing to listen to the Hokage, he was still his own person with his own plans. Besides, after calling Orochimaru by the -sama suffix he feared he'd been scarred for life.

"My name is Arashi," the blond man said as he led the way towards the exit. "If you aren't going to address me as Hokage-sama, then at least use that. Hokage-san sounds so impersonal and cold. Anyways, the reason I am here is because Uchiha Fugaku – the head of the Uchiha Clan – has invited us both over for a chat. I do hope you don't mind?"

"No, not at all," Harry replied. He had to wonder though, why would Uchiha Fugaku invite _him_ of all people for crumpets and tea? _'Orochimaru did tell me that the Uchiha are very proud, and are always looking for a way to strengthen the clan's connection with Konoha. Is he doing this to show up the Hyuuga's? Should I expect him to try to push me into accepting some poor Uchiha or other into the class?'_ he wondered silently.

Halfway to the Uchiha-part of town, Arashi smiled and turned to Harry. "I feel I must warn you, Harry-san, the Uchiha Clan is very proud, and-"

He was cut off by two voices shouting for his attention. "ARASHI-SENSEI! Over here!"

"OI! ARASHI-SENSEI!"

The two men turned and saw a trio standing by the Ichiraku Ramen stand. The brown-haired girl waved them over with a smile. The black-haired boy with the goggles couldn't be anything but an Uchiha, and the third in the group – and by far the youngest one – was silver-haired and wore a mask to hide the lower part of his face.

"Your former pupils, I assume?" Harry asked, a small smile crossing his face.

Arashi just grinned even wider. "Yep! The best shinobi there's ever been! Come on, I'll introduce you to them!"

"But isn't Uchiha Fugaku expecting us?"

"I'm the damn Hokage, I can afford to be fashionably late once in a while." Arashi grabbed his wrist. "Come on, Harry-san!" he pulled him across the street and to the waiting trio.

'_The guy's like a kid in a grown-up's body.'_ Harry thought. _'Everyone around here is insane! No wonder Orochimaru turned out the way he did.'_

"Rin-san! Obito-kun! Kakashi-kun!" Arashi grinned even wider if that was possible. "Imagine meeting you three here, and together no less! It's good to see that you haven't forgotten each other now that the team's disbanded."

The girl, Rin, smiled. "Of course not, sensei!"

"Though we had to drag Kakashi here from the training grounds," Uchiha Obito added with a grin. He nudged the smaller boy. "He was training again."

The Hokage hmm-ed and shook his head. "You don't need to learn a new jutsu, Kakashi-kun. You need to learn how to relax once in a while, that's what!"

The young genius shrugged his shoulders, the chunnin vest almost swallowing him up. "There was nothing else to do."

"Yes there was," Obito countered, still grinning. "We asked you three times to join us before we finally dragged your sorry ass here."

"Are you insulting me, dobe?" Kakashi asked in a dangerous tone.

"Of course I am!" the Uchiha replied happily slurping his ramen.

Harry smirked at the arguing pair. "Quite the students you have, Hokage-sa… Arashi-san."

The blond man nodded proudly. "Yep!"

Rin turned towards the two grown-ups after having sent an exasperated look towards her two male friends. "Arashi-sensei, who is your friend?" she asked politely, her eyes watching Harry curiously.

"This is the one and onl-"

"Harry," Harry said. "Just Harry."

The girl smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Harry-san. I am Kishimoto Rin." She bowed to him, and Harry returned the bow, although awkwardly. It was odd being accepted so quickly by someone. Even the villages that had hired him to get rid of some pest or another, had been careful to keep their dealings with him as short and as impersonal as possible. None of them wanted to be associated with a known missing-nin, and now in Konoha people didn't want to be associated with the grandson of Orochimaru.

"Hey, aren't you the grandson of the sannin Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked suddenly.

"I am." Harry replied. He saw no need to hide the fact, the kids would know about it before the day was over anyways.

Obito spoke up, gnawing at his chopsticks. "Didn't Fugaku-san invite you over today…?"

Arashi blinked in surprise. "I almost forgot about that! It was nice seeing you kids again! Keep out of trouble, you hear me?" he grabbed Harry's wrist once again. "Come on! Despite being the Hokage, I can't be any later than I already am!"

Harry waved to the trio that was left behind, couldn't help but chuckle as he was dragged off again. _'Definitely a child in a grown-up's body. Wish I could be like that…'_

**-x-x-x-x-**

There, please tell me what you think. I wasn't sure about the way I portrayed Mitarashi Anko, and Kakashi's gennin team. I even threw in Maito Gai for the heck of it. Before anyone asks: yes, Hyuuga Manji is inspired by Maes Hughes from '_Full Metal Alchemist'_. I just couldn't help myself. I needed to put some insanity into this story.

A reviewer pointed out the fault with Orochimaru's age. Sorry about that. I am no math-wiz. What I meant to say was that Orochimaru (and the other two sannins) are going to be older in this story than they are in the manga and the anime. Right now, Orochimaru is 54 years old, and by the time we reach the true '_Naruto'_-timeline he will be around 67 – a good reason to want another body, I'd say!

This story is currently set before the attack of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and about that and the sealing of the demon fox, well, I'm not telling you guys yet. You'll just have to wait for it. The Hidden Village of Sound couldn't have been established a few months before the Chunnin Exams. It takes time to establish a village, and not to mention to train a gennin team in their specialized techniques. And Kabuto will come into the picture soon enough, don't worry.

Thanks to:

Rachel Sedai, Falling Right Side-Up, Ran Hoshino, Shadowed Rains, korrd, CrimsonReality, SensiblyTainted, Sarah R Potter, anti-thule, candidus-lupus-full Moon, Morrolan, Vamps Witches and Weres, Fuji the Hobbit, Gato-sama, Fattyaddy-99, FireAngel8723, Firehedgehog, Xylix, Shadow Crystal Mage and dark672.


	8. Chapter 8

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Long chapter ahead, otherwise nothing much except enjoy, and please bear with any mistakes you might see.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Eight**

'_Hoolo-wacka, moolo-wacka,  
__Something not right!  
__Many wicked-icky thing's gonna happen tonight!  
__Hoolo-wacka, moolo-wacka,  
__Sailor-man beware!  
__With the money in the ground, there's murder in the air!  
__Murder in the air!'  
_**"Shiver My Timbers" from 'Muppet Treasure Island'**

The beginning of the meeting with Uchiha Fugaku was alright. They were met by a pregnant, lovely young woman and led to the room where the Clan Head himself waited. From there on things started to go straight to hell. Harry had, on principle, stopped listening to Uchiha when the man started telling him about the noble clan and so on. He'd had too many bad experiences with people who gushed about the greatness of their clans.

Then the man had started hinting very subtly that having an Uchiha in his new class would be great for all of them. And when Harry had continued to play the misunderstanding fool, Fugaku had come right out and asked if he was even considering about allowing Uchiha's to join. It was at this point that things _really_ went downwards.

Annoyed to hell and back with the narrow-mindedness the man displayed, Harry had declared: "I refuse to accept anyone into my class who has a bloody mushroom on his back – and on his brain."

The Hokage who had, up to this point, sat quietly and drunk his tea, promptly choked on said tea. Uchiha Fugaku just sat there in shock. Sure, he had been insulted before, but he had never been down right brushed away like a fly and completely ignored. The two of them could only watch as the green-eyed young man thanked them for the invitation, the tea and – after giving his congratulations to the pregnant Mrs Uchiha – left the Uchiha Estates. The Hokage was still coughing suspiciously as he declared that he better go as well.

"Tons of paperwork, Uchiha-san, I'm sure you understand."

By the time the blond man caught up to Harry, the latter had almost reached the edges of what was the Uchiha-side of town, and was ready to leave the entire place as far behind as possible. He was also considering striking any and all Uchiha's off the lists.

"I suppose I shouldn't have said that to him," the green-eyed man said as the two of them walked back towards the Hokage Tower. "I hate people like that."

Arashi looked at him. "I sense some bad experience here." The Hokage said just as quietly, and Harry nodded. "Well, I must agree that you shouldn't have said that to Uchiha Fugaku-san, but I _know_ for a fact that you aren't the only one who's wanted to do so – myself included." At this point the blue eyes twinkled again.

Harry just hnn-ed in return. The Hyuuga's would have a field day when this little scandal reached their ears, and he was sure he could be expecting an invitation from them soon enough. _'People are odd. First they want to kill me for being Orochimaru's grandson, then they're happy with ignoring me, and now everyone of the prestigious Clans of Konoha want to get to know me. What a bloody mess!'_

His thoughts were cut off as they reached one of the numerous training grounds that were placed both inside and outside Konoha. A lone boy, approximately five years of age, was throwing shuriken at the target, his aim surprisingly sure and steady despite his youth. He was clearly an Uchiha; the blue shirt with the red-and-white fan was a dead giveaway. Harry stopped to watch the boy throw stars until he ran out of them completely. Only once did the lad miss, and even then the shuriken had seriously scratched up the log which acted as a target.

"Who is he?" the green-eyed man asked quietly so that he didn't disturb the boy's concentration.

"Uchiha Itachi I believe." The Hokage replied. "He's a raising star; they say he's a genius, enough to rival Kakashi."

Harry went back to watching the boy. "Genius, huh? I think I'll keep an eye at him from now on."

"I thought you said you didn't want to associate with anyone bearing a 'mushroom' on their backs?"

"It isn't the mushroom on the back that I don't like, it's the mushroom in their heads that annoys me. Besides, he's still young enough not to be completely tied up in whatever politics the Uchiha Clan has. All I need to do is pull him out before that happens."

The Hokage suddenly became alarmingly serious. "Orochimaru always had an interest in the Uchiha Clan…" he let the sentence trail off deliberately.

Harry blinked then turned his head to lock eyes with the other man. "Yes, he did, but for completely different reasons than me. I am not saying that my undying loyalty is to Konoha, no, that belongs to the wand-shinobi and my friends that are out there. However, at this point in time it serves me well if the village is well protected – and can protect itself in the future. I will listen to your orders, I will spy on Orochimaru, and I will teach your men as long as it helps me in my own long-time mission, Hokage-san. Beyond that I cannot promise anything."

The blue eyes of the Hokage stared at him intently for a long while, before the man sighed. "Well, at least you're honest in this matter. I suppose that no one can predict the future."

Harry wisely didn't mention Trelawney and the two of them watched Uchiha Itachi practice his throwing skills for another ten minutes until another, older Uchiha – "Uchiha Shisui, Itachi's closest friend," Arashi explained – came to tell the boy that it was time for dinner. Then the two of them moved on, it was time for their dinners as well.

Harry couldn't help but feel that some strange form of understanding and friendship had started between himself and the Hokage of Konoha. He didn't know if it was good or bad at this point in time.

**-x-x-x-x-**

It was a very small group which showed up for the 'entrance exams' for the new class, and Harry knew that they would be cut down by half by the time he was done with them. Some of the people they had invited had flat out refused because they weren't interested, or they didn't want to go to a class that was taught by Orochimaru's grandson, or because they already had their schedules full with other things. Harry had been careful to warn each and every person that if they _did_ manage to pass his evaluation, they would be put back on the school bench at square one, and that it would take a lot of time.

"Could've been better," Umino Kisuke muttered as he watched the small group of people gathered in the room.

"Could've been worse as well," Hyuuga Manji pointed out. "At least we know that most of the people here came because they have a genuine interest in learning, and not because they wanted to kill Harry-san."

Harry sighed. "I'll be lucky if five of the twelve that came qualify for this. Well, no time like the present I suppose." He stepped forwards and everyone went silent at once. "I will call you up one by one. Please follow me behind the screen on the other side of the room. One of the ANBU will accompany us behind the screen, and the other will stay close as well," he said. Although he would've preferred to use a different room for this, he had to do it this way so that no one protested or got suspicious enough to start a massacre.

"First one up is Inuzuka Tsumé," Hyuuga Manji read from the clipboard in his hands, and a young woman with red facial markings, wild, spiky brown hair parted from the group. Her dog followed her as she walked behind the screen. Harry sat down on one of the two pillows placed there, got comfortable and the woman did the same.

Then he watched her.

She looked expectant.

He still watched her, his green eyes flashing in the light from the lamp placed between them on the floor.

Inuzuka Tsumé still stared expectantly at him.

Harry was using his limited skills in Legilimency to determine whether she would be good enough to join his class. He knew that the ninja had a few techniques that would allow them to enter someone else's mind, but all of those were very painful for the victim and one would notice it even before the correct hand-seals were performed. Legilimency, on the other hand, was so subtle if done correctly, that only another Master in the subject would be able to detect the intrusion. Despite this chance to get to know every dirty little secret the woman knew about Konoha, Harry stuck to her personality and morals and ignored everything else. A long while passed in silence, only broken by the dog panting or someone on the other side of the room whispering or shifting.

"What are you willing to sacrifice?" Harry finally asked the woman.

She'd looked like she was about to fall asleep, but now she perked up. Her weird eyes stared into his green ones. "Everything for Konoha and my family." She declared proudly.

'_Dogs really are pack-animals, aren't they?'_ Harry mused. "Hmm, please send in the next person on the list." He said to her, his voice pleasant but not revealing anything of importance.

"Oi, man, did I pass your silence-test or what?" Inuzuka Tsumé demanded in her usual loud manner. Her dog barked in agreement.

"I will need some more time to sort everything out, and then we will see."

She snorted, "Keh!" and left.

Umino Kisuke, who had accompanied them behind the screen, blinked in surprise. "Was that supposed to be a test?" he asked hesitantly.

Harry nodded. "Even silence speaks."

The other man blinked. "… I suppose," he agreed finally. He looked over the top of the screen. "The next person is… _my wife_! When was she put on the list?"

"When you weren't looking, Umino-san." Green eyes danced in amusement, and he couldn't keep a small smile from showing when Mrs Umino herself stepped around the screen. "Good evening, Umino Tsubómi-san."

The woman bowed. "Good evening to you too, Potter-san."

"Please sit." Harry mentioned to the pillow. She did so and the silence and staring went on again. Umino Kisuke was almost twitching where he stood, eager to know what the hell was going on between his wife and his, well, charge for the lack of a better word. Finally Harry broke the silence and asked the woman the same question he had asked Inuzuka Tsumé.

Umino Tsubómi thought over it for a minute. "As long as my family is safe, it doesn't matter." She said finally.

"Hmm." The green-eyed man didn't say anything else and, after a minute or so, Tsubómi left. She looked like she wasn't sure what to think of it all. And so it went on until every single one of the twelve that had arrived were tested by way of Legilimency and that one question. When it was finally over Harry had a headache and it was almost the middle of the night. All he wanted to do now as fall over and sleep his heart out.

Hyuuga Manji, unsurprisingly, was still hyper. "Right, that's all for now I suppose! So, what are we going to do now?"

Harry glared at him. "Who lost their wits and gave you sugar?"

Kisuke snickered, but was cut off in the middle by a yawn. "I suppose we continue tomorrow," he said as he stretched.

"Do you know which ones you're going to accept, Harry-kun?" Manji asked as they checked the office and locked it up.

"More or less, I just need some more information about all three of them, and then we're good to go."

The two ANBU blinked in surprise. "Only three out of twelve?"

Harry simply nodded and didn't say anything else on the subject. He and Kisuke parted with Manji at the next crossroad, and the two of them headed towards the apartment-complex where Harry lived. They didn't bother to eat at all, just put up some simple, but effective alarms and traps and went to sleep. Harry also activated the ward he had placed around his apartment which would pick up on anyone entering or leaving the place, and give him enough time to grab a weapon if someone wanted to kill him.

'_Wish I had some anti-headache potion or something.'_ Was his last thought before he fell asleep.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Time passed, and the citizens of Konoha started to get used to have Harry around. Kisuke and Manji didn't need to take shifts in sleeping over at Harry's apartment as extra protection any more, but the two ANBU still hang around. Hyuuga Manji because he was the man appointed by the Hokage to sit in on the new wand-shinobi class, and Umino Kisuke because his wife was one of the three students accepted into the class.

The class itself was going very well, and although Harry didn't have much theoretical knowledge, he had enough to teach his three pupils what they needed to know. To Umino Tsubómi he taught healing spells and simple potions. He knew a great deal of the healing spells because of the fact that since both he and Orochimaru had been labelled as missing-nins, none of the hospitals would treat them when they got wounded. So he had asked the Order to send along some books on healing with the trading caravan, and had enough practice with the spells to do them in his sleep. Inuzuka Tsumé was taught the characteristics of various magical creatures, and how to handle them. And the third apprentice – who was none other than Morino Ibiki – was taught Legilimency and Occlumency, at least as far as Harry could teach him. All three of them were also taught various spells which Harry had – with enormous help from Hermione – converted into hand-seals instead of wand-movements. All in all things were going very well, and more and more people took interest in the class.

As for the tentative friendship between Harry and the Yondaime Hokage, it slowly evolved into a firm camaraderie. Both of them understood each other, both of them sacrificed so much just to keep other people safe, and both of them were younger than most of the people that ran the Administration and needed someone their age who understood them to talk to. The Hokage also revealed that his girlfriend of six months was two months pregnant. Hatake Kakashi had been elevated from chunnin to ANBU, Kishimoto Rin had continued with her apprenticeship with the Healer-nins, and Uchiha Obito became a chunnin and was happy with that at the moment.

'_Everything is going surprisingly well,'_ Harry mused as he walked through the town towards his office in the Hokage Tower. He was dressed in the standard chunnin outfit as he'd been promoted just the week before. People from far and near were sending letters that asked for help in getting rid of some sort of creature they couldn't recognize. It was then Harry's job to travel to the location with his three apprentices and Manji, and terminate the creature. Most of the time the 'monster' in question was a normal – but rare – animal that couldn't hurt a fly (hypothetically speaking), but it also happened that it was a lethifold, a dementor, a boggart, or any of the others Voldemort had sent. It was a bit stressful travelling all over the Shinobi Continent like this, but as they were the only ones who could help it had to be done – the Death Eaters didn't even count.

'_The Order Agents in the other villages – hidden or not – are doing as well. Orochimaru has been surprisingly quiet lately, and has only contacted me once. I wonder if he's plotting something…'_ Harry's thoughts trailed off as a harsh, barked order to his left caught his attention. Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui were training in martial arts against Uchiha Fugaku. The head of the Uchiha Clan was constantly yelling at them to be stronger and faster, that they were the connection to the village, that they belonged to the noblest clan, and so on and so forth.

'_Hmm, he only takes the time to brush the older boy to the side, before he focuses completely on Itachi.' _Harry noted, though he had to admit that Uchiha Itachi was very good._ 'Very unfair, and both boys look ready to drop dead in exhaustion any second. Oi, now **that's** gotta hurt!'_ he nearly winced as Uchiha Shisui landed wrong as he tried to do a hand-flip, and the following _crack_ of broken bones nearly echoed throughout the early morning silence.

Uchiha Fugaku rounded on the poor boy, his face angry. "If you cannot do anything right, Shisui, then what are you doing here at all?"

"I'm sorry," the boy apologised and held himself in check as he stood up. He bowed to the best of his abilities, his hand wrapped around the broken wrist. "It won't happen again, Fugaku-sama."

"It most certainly will not. If you had been a genius like Itachi, then this would never have happened in the first place. " The man agreed, a scowl on his face. Then he sighed. "I suppose I will have to follow you home as well now as well. Itachi, wait here for me. We shall continue this training later."

"Hai," Uchiha Itachi said, his eyes respectively lowered. He was panting and sweaty and hungry, and Harry knew that they must've been at it with a vigorousness and insanity that rivalled his own training with Orochimaru. There was one small difference however, Harry had been much older than Itachi and Shisui, and his body handled the harsh training much better than the small bodies of a five-year-old and a seven-year-old. Uchiha Fugaku left with Shisui following behind. The older boy sent a look back to Itachi and the latter nodded gratefully.

'_Well, well, Shisui-kun did that on purpose it seems.'_ Harry's eyebrow rose. _'This is getting more and more interesting by the minute. The fact that he's willing to break his own wrist just so that the younger one can get a few minutes' rest, now **that** shows amazing dedication to their friendship.'_ He watched as Itachi quickly found a place to sit down as soon as he was sure that his father was out of seeing and hearing range. The young boy rubbed one of the numerous bruises and cuts and winced, and Harry decided that it was the perfect time to step into the picture.

Uchiha Itachi stiffened the second he picked up on Harry's presence, and he blinked in confusion when Harry started to apply a healing balm on the cuts and bruises. It was standard equipment for all ninja of chunnin rank and above, and he'd improved it with the help of Umino Tsubómi and Nara Shikaku at the Narake laboratory, which was a mostly-medical research facility owned by the Nara Clan.

"Sit still brat," the green-eyed man muttered as Itachi winced again. "This may sting now, but you will be thanking me for it later, trust me on this. How long were you people at it for you to be tired this early in the morning? Sane people are just starting to stir in their beds, let alone think about doing any training."

The boy was silent for a few minutes until he replied quietly. "Since before the sun was up. Father said I, being a genius, needed to learn how to fight in the dark."

Harry snorted. "You're not a genius, brat, now let me look at that cut on your temple." As all head-wounds – no matter how small – the cut was still bleeding a great deal, but it wasn't even close to being deadly. Hell, the boy probably wouldn't even have a scar once it was done healing.

"Not a genius…?" Itachi muttered in surprise, his black eyes carefully watching as the older man worked.

"Hell no, brat! You are good, I will give you that, and you can become better, but you are no genius. To be a genius means that you master everything in your chosen field of work, from illusions to speed to strength to techniques and so on and so on. No one can master everything, not even the three sannins. If you specialize in strength, you will lose a great deal of speed and agility. The other cases are similar. A Healer-nin, for example, has excellent chakra control, but their chakra pathways are so small that even though it gives them the control necessary for their line of work, it never would give them enough chakra to perform any of the techniques required in battle. No one can be good at everything."

"The Sharingan-" Itachi tried again.

Harry cut him off. "Is only a tool for cheaters. Sure, you can copy and recognise any kind of jutsu, and also predict your opponent's moves to some degree, but it is more rewarding to you both physically and mentally if you go about it all the hard way. You can copy a taijutsu move, but you may not have the strength to perform it properly because you didn't train your body to do it. You get what I am trying to say, brat?"

The boy nodded slowly and thoughtfully. "My father doesn't like you." He said out of the blue.

"I'd be surprised if he did," green-eyed lit up in humour.

"What did you do to make him dislike you so?"

Harry snorted, a smirk breaking through. "I told him that I refuse any kind of friendship with someone who goes around with a mushroom on his back, and on his brain."

"…mushroom…?" Itachi blinked in surprise, clearly not knowing whether to laugh or to stay shocked. "It's a fan." He decided that it was the only thing to say.

"Che, looks more like a table-tennis racket to me." Harry put away the balm and did a quick check to make sure he hadn't missed any wounds or bruises. "You look ready to go, brat, but I would take it easy if I were you. Another round of beatings like that, and you might end up at the hospital as well, and that's personal experience speaking." He said as he stood up.

Itachi nodded. "Thank you."

The green-eyed man stared at the boy for a second before replying. "Nothing to it, brat. Say, it looks like it'll be a hot day – too hot to train anyways – so do you want to get an ice-cream or something? My treat."

The young Uchiha seemed surprised for a minute. "My father-"

"Don't worry, all the blame will be on me. I'll just tell him we were training your brain not to freeze up in the middle of a battle or something." Harry nearly bashed his head against a wall when he realised exactly what had left his mouth. _'Hanging out with Hyuuga Manji is certifiably dangerous to one's mental health!'_ Black eyes blinked in surprise as the boy tried to figure out what ice-cream had to do with freezing up in the middle of battle, and Harry felt sympathy for the boy. Any other child would laugh themselves silly at that remark – or at least snort and grin – but not the young genius in front of him. How sad was that? _'I have my work cut out for me.'_

Finally a small, almost non-existent smile lifted the corners of Itachi's mouth upwards. "I would like that," the boy said, "as long as I can bring an ice-cream to Shisui-kun as well."

"Don't worry about it," the green-eyed man helped the boy up. "Next time you can invite Shisui-san to join us." Provided that there was a next time, that is.

Itachi picked up on what hadn't been said, and his smile grew marginally. "Yes. Next time I will."

Harry grinned and led the way to a small ice-cream vendor he knew from experience sold very good ice-cream, and the rest of the morning was spent with the older man trying to make the young buy laugh and relax. And not even when a steaming and fuming Uchiha Fugaku found them and demanded that his son was returned to him, did the new twinkle in Itachi's eyes disappear completely, although it was dimmed slightly. Harry just grinned and waved to them as Itachi followed his scowling father home.

Uchiha Fugaku: 0. Harry Potter: 1.

**-x-x-x-x-**

The happy times did not last.

Five months after Harry had tentatively befriended Uchiha Itachi, a demon was reported on the borders of the Fire Country. They figured it came from the west, from somewhere in the unknown territory beyond the Stone Country.

"It's the great, nine-tailed, fox-demon, the most powerful of all the nine." The Yondaime Hokage said in a meeting where all ninja – from chunnin to ANBU – participated. "From what we could figure out, the Hidden Village of Stone somehow annoyed it, then made it look as though shinobi from the Leaf were the perpetrators."

There was an angry murmur from the gathered shinobi.

"They probably hope that the fox will destroy Konoha," Hyuuga Manji muttered. "The Stone has always wanted the lands belonging to the Fire Country. They don't get many missions over there because the Stone Country is on the edge of the map so to speak. And because of this their prices are unreasonably high, which doesn't brighten the situation."

"A war between Leaf and Stone is the last thing we need," Umino Kisuke sighed and his wife nodded.

"Demon…" Harry's fingers ghosted over the scroll that contained his contract with the Cerberus. The little box in which he had contained the three-tailed (and headed) demon, hadn't been able to hold it for long, but in the end they had reached a compromise. Harry used the Cerberus as a summon whilst he kept the Akatsuki from killing it and taking its power. It was a win-win deal on both sides, and it worked very well.

"How long until it gets here?" a random shinobi asked.

"If it isn't detained somewhere along the way, it should be here in two or three days' time," the blond Hokage replied.

Harry sighed. "I don't know what's worse. If it does get detained it will more than likely destroy many villages and kill many people, but we will get the time to get ready for its attack. If it doesn't get detained and heads here directly many of us will be killed because we weren't ready, but civilian lives will be spared."

"Either way, it's a disaster." Manji said.

"Everyone prepare yourself," the Hokage said. "This will be bloody. The children and civilians will be moved to the tunnels under the Hokage Monument as soon as possible, along with supplies – both of weapons and of food." The meeting went on like that, all of them planning what to do when the disaster struck. It went on long into the night, and although all of the people in the room were tired, they didn't go to sleep. Instead they started going from door to door to remove all civilians. Some were sent out to other villages – both normal and hidden – to warn them, and others started gathering the supplies needed.

Harry had just given his orders to his three apprentices – "Do not, under any circumstances, do anything stupid," – when the Hokage came up to them.

"Harry-san, might I have a few words with you?"

"Hai." Harry followed the other man into the next room, where Sarutobi-san waited for them. "What can I do for you?"

Arashi sighed and sat down in the chair behind the desk which belonged to the Hokage. "The second I heard about the demon, I searched for any way to stop it, but there was none. Now I am working on a permanent sealing-technique for it, but I need more time."

"We were wondering if you knew anything that could help us," Sarutobi-san said.

Harry sat down in a chair himself and shook his head. "All I know is a technique which will seal the demon up for a week at most. It worked once before, but that was a weak demon compared to the attacking kitsune." The other two looked disappointed and suddenly hundreds of years older than they really were – except, perhaps, Sarutobi-san, but that was left unsaid. "But," the green-eyed man continued. "But I do know someone who can help."

"Who?"

"Hermione Granger."

**-x-x-x-x-**

Harry and Arashi left Konoha that very same night, and Harry led them quickly and without fail towards the village where Hermione had put up her trading outpost. They reached the village by dawn, and found Hermione opening the little shop which was placed on the edge of the main-street.

"-Harry! It's good to see you!- " the brown-haired woman exclaimed happily, but sobered quickly upon seeing the serious look on both men's faces. "What's going on?" she asked in Japanese.

The situation was quickly explained to the young woman, and she dragged up some old research she had done when Harry had told her and the Order about encountering and sealing a Cerberus. She, Harry and Arashi poured over the papers, argued and wrote down anything which might help, and slowly – ever so slowly – a seal began to take shape. They worked throughout the day and into the next night, neither of the two shinobi getting any sleep at all despite the fact that they had been up for over forty-eight hours straight.

Finally, after yet another two days of arguing and researching, Harry and Arashi came up with the last piece to the puzzle, the piece that would make everything else work. They had figured that they couldn't kill the demon, it was too powerful for that, but they could contain it. However, the container had to be a human, more specifically a baby with its umbilical cord just cut. And because no mortal human had enough chakra to seal the most powerful of the nine demons, they had to make a deal with the Shinigami, the God of Death.

"Thank the heavens that Hermione wasn't awake for this, she would've gone into a frenzy." Harry muttered and yawned.

Hermione was sleeping on the sofa, surrounded by books and papers and pens.

Arashi yawned as well. "We need to go."

"Hai." The green-eyed man scribbled a quick note to the bushy-haired woman, and the two of them left.

They heard the roars of the demon seconds before they saw it. It was gigantic, even bigger than the Cerberus, and its nine tails were flying all over the place, smashing scenery and humans alike. The Konoha shinobi were in full attack, and from what the two men could see the demon hadn't been able to reach Konoha proper. Only a part of the wall that surrounded Konohagakure was torn down, and two or three houses were missing a few storeys, but that was all.

The two of them headed towards Konoha first. They needed the new-born baby to make this work, and they were lucky. The second they had entered the town, a passing Healer-nin told them that due to all the stress Arashi's girlfriend had gone into labour earlier than expected. Both Arashi and Harry ran at top speed towards the hospital, only to receive the news that the young woman in question had died during the birth, but that the baby was fine.

'_This is a night of disasters.'_ Harry mused as he watched the blond Hokage bow his head in silence. A roar sounded in the hospital as yet another critically wounded shinobi was carried in on a stretcher, and the Hokage demanded to have his newborn son at once. _'You never planned to use any other child than your own, did you?'_ the green-eyed man thought in sadness as the new-born was handed over.

"To the Hokage Tower. Now!" Arashi ordered, his face set and grim. Once there they quickly set up the necessary equipment, and drew the necessary runes on the stomach of the baby who was sleeping peacefully. "My son…"

"You don't have to do this, you know." Harry said. "Don't sacrifice yourself and let your son grow up alone and without parents. Let someone else do it."

"No one else knows the procedure, and it would take too much time to teach them."

"Then let me do it, damn it!"

"I thought you would only do what would gain yourself and your own long-term mission, Harry." The Hokage replied.

Harry growled, but knew he was caught at that one. "Then I will come with you. Perhaps if we do the seal together the Shinigami will not want both our lives, but only half of each. It's a gamble, but we might both survive, and that's what counts." He walked towards the door. _'I cannot allow another child to go through the same as I did.'_

Arashi stopped him by grabbing his shoulder. "No, Harry. I cannot allow that. I need someone to watch over my little boy when I am gone, and you have so much more to do and cannot put your life at risk in such a gamble. I am sorry."

Harry's senses screamed danger at this point, and although he was a very good shinobi, Arashi had more experience _and_ he was the Hokage of Konoha. Therefore it didn't take much time for him to knock Harry unconscious by pressing a few points on the other man's neck. The last thing Harry saw and heard before darkness swallowed him, was for the Hokage asking him to keep an eye at his child, and the name of the boy.

The name was Uzumaki Naruto.

**-x-x-x-x-**

There, that's done. Please tell me what you think.

I know I was rushing it slightly at the end there, but I thought it would be better this way than to write about all the blood and gore and whatnot that we all know happened. And I know that only Sarutobi is supposed to know the sealing-technique the Yondaime used to defeat the Kyuubi, but it will all be explained later.

Umino Kisuke and Tsubómi are Iruka's parents. I just couldn't resist putting them it. Hyuuga Manji is Branch House, but very far removed from the Main House, so even though he has the seal, it doesn't affect his day-to-day life much. Inuzuka Tsumé is Kiba's mother. I know that Kiba has a sister and a mother as was shown in the episodes when they went after Sasuke, but other than that I don't know anything. And as for the small feud between Harry and Uchiha Fugaku, well, I just couldn't resist. Sorry.

And finally we reach the real '_Naruto'_-timeline.

Thanks to:

korrd, FMA fan, Shadowed Rains, Falling Right Side-Up, FireAngel8723, Baka Shinobi, Rachel Sedai, anti-thule, Morrolan, SalanTrong, Sarah R Potter, Ran Hoshino, haro-chan, miako, Anonymous, nantukoprime, Shadow Crystal Mage, The Insane Blue Rubber Ducky, Fattyaddy-99, Garret pi, Tombadgerlock, candidus-lupus-full Moon, CrimsonReality.


	9. Chapter 9

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I only own the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Gods, I have three tests this week! My parents are going to kill me when they realise that I am not studying. Anyways, I am trying to keep this story as in-canon when it comes to the _Naruto_-universe as I can, but some things will be pushed around and mixed up.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Nine:**

By the time Harry was graciously woken up by Sarutobi-san, the attack was over and Konoha was starting to lick its wounds. Cheery sunlight lit up the room, completely disregarding the gloomy atmosphere that surrounded the occupants. The only one who seemed to be having a good time was the little baby. The tyke was gurgling and clapping his small hands and giggling at every odd face Jiraiya made at him.

"We just found you, Harry-san," Sarutobi-san explained as Harry heaved himself into a waiting chair. The old man was dressed in the robes of the Hokage, having taken over the post until a new Hokage was chosen. "It was Hyuuga Manji-san who noticed that you were missing."

Hyuuga Manji was also in the room. The man looked tired and bedraggled, his ANBU mask missing several chips and pieces, but there was still a small, sad smile on his face. "Good to know that you are alright."

"Thanks," Harry muttered and rubbed his temples. He had a throbbing headache, and it didn't seem like it was going away anytime soon. "How's Kisuke?" he asked.

There was a silence in the room.

"Neither he nor his wife made it." Manji replied finally. "Iruka's fine though."

The green eyes closed for a minute in respect for the dead, and a short, silent prayer was sent up to the heavens – or wherever it was people went after they died. After another minute in respectful silence, Harry pushed all thoughts of grieving away from his mind, and focused on the situation at hand. He could grieve when Voldemort – and Orochimaru too if he was lucky – was dead, cremated and buried six feet under in a jar with tons of powerful _ofuda_ sealing it.

"I hope our losses weren't crippling?"

Sarutobi-san shook his head. "They were crippling enough for the Stone to dare launching an attack. We lost many good people to the demon."

Jiraiya finally spoke up from his corner of the room, little Naruto gurgling and happily tugging on the Frog Sannin's long, white hair. "And not only that, but we fear that a civil war might break out. People hate the fox, and once they realize that the Yondaime sacrificed himself to seal it in his little one here," he nodded towards the baby, "they will want to kill him."

Harry protested at that. "Do not, under any circumstances, let them even close to killing Naruto! If he were to die with the Seal so fresh, the fox would be set lose, and the entire hell will start all over again."

"So his name is Naruto, eh?" Manji muttered and poked the small baby. Little Naruto giggled and poked him right back. "Well, I suppose it fits in a way. Just look at the shape of the seal. Very bright for a day-old child, don't you think? Must be the fox already at work."

The Sandaime Hokage sighed. "I have already written up a few rules that the people of Konoha shall follow, or face dire circumstances. What it comes down to now is who is going to take care of little Naruto? It has to be someone who can be trusted not to hurt or neglect the child, ergo someone in this room."

"I can't," Jiraiya said and pulled Naruto away from the furious poking-match that had developed between the baby and the Hyuuga ANBU. "I have so many books to do – and not to mention do research for!" a rather perverted look passed the man's face and stayed there for a couple of minutes. It didn't move away until Harry coughed something which sounded like 'pervert'. Jiraiya put himself together and continued. "And I want to keep an eye and ear out for any kind of hostile activity against Konoha. It was only be sheer luck that I met up with a chunnin on his way to Wind Country, and he told me what was going on. And now, with Stone most likely about to attack us, I need to gather information about their troops."

"I cannot take him either, my duties as Hokage will not allow it." The Sandaime said. "How about you, Manji-kun? Or your girlfriend?"

Manji shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Despite the fact that I am rather far removed from the Main House, I am still a Hyuuga Branch House member. And although I have very little interest in the political struggles between the two Houses, I still have the accursed Seal, and will not be allowed to take in the Bearer of the Kyuubi no Kitsune no matter what. My girlfriend is not a ninja, just a normal woman, and she will not know how to deal with something like this. She can barely deal with the other Hyuuga's looking down on her because she cannot use her chakra in any way, I will not force this upon her as well."

Sarutobi-san nodded gravely, and all three turned towards Harry who was still rubbing his temples. "What? You want _me_ to take care of the brat?"

"Arashi-kun trusted you," Jiraiya pointed out. If he was feeling sad about loosing his apprentice, he didn't show it at the moment.

"Gods know why," Harry muttered.

"And you know what to expect and how to deal with it. You would be perfect." The sannin continued.

Harry thought back on his own childhood, and nearly burst out laughing. Him? Perfect? Yeah, right, it was the understatement of the century. Just look at what his life had been up until this point. First his parents had been killed by a madman afraid of death. Then there were the Dursley's. 'Nuff said about that topic. And then came the insanity of Hogwarts, Sirius' short time in freedom, and Voldemort's continuous tries to do Harry off. Then came the time with Orochimaru. We're not even going to go there.

"I know you have the wrong guy here," Harry protested. "Firstly, my own childhood is not something to be proud off."

"Then you know what to avoid when raising a child." Sarutobi-san pointed out.

"Secondly, the only thing I know about babies is that you're not supposed to drop them on the head!"

"You will learn." The Hokage interrupted again.

"Thirdly, I will not have the time to take care of a chibi."

"I will help!" Manji declared.

Harry sent him a glare. "And fourthly, I hate any kinds of brats!"

"You seem to be doing a fine job with Uchiha Itachi from what I hear," Jiraiya said as he walked over to where Harry was sitting. Then he promptly pushed the baby into Harry's lap. "Congratulations, you've just officially become a father!"

Harry stared at the small child sitting in his lap. Naruto giggled and waved his small, chubby arms clearly stating that he wanted to be picked up and cuddled with. Enormous blue eyes glittered at him out of a chubby, round face with three whisker-like marks marring each round cheek. Harry raised a hand a carefully traced the marks with a finger. _'And the Dark Lord will mark him as an equal…'_

"Will you do it, Harry-kun?" Sarutobi-san asked quietly.

"No." Harry said. "I am sorry, Hokage-san, but I will not be Uzumaki Naruto's surrogate father in any way. I'd be more likely to mess it up anyway." He smiled slightly as Naruto grabbed his fingers and giggled. "But," he continued, "I will keep an eye out for him as much as I can."

The Hokage nodded in acceptance. "I suppose that is the best we shall get for now. I will place Naruto in the orphanage, but I fear that he will be neglected."

'_No, he won't. I will see to that to the best of my abilities.'_ The green-eyed man smiled and disentangled his fingers from Naruto's as gently as he could. _'Neville, Luna and Ernie Macmillan collectively run the trading outpost here in Konoha, but I think one of them should be willing to get a new profession. And with all the recent losses there will be even more orphans, which means that more people will be needed to take care of them.'_ He looked at Naruto again. The baby was trying to burrow into his shirt, acting much like a fox kit. _'Already trying to take over, eh Kyuubi?'_ Harry thought and placed a hand on the child's head. He was somewhat shocked to realise that he could easily fit Naurto's entire head in his palm, and wondered if everyone was that small – even though he knew that at one point they all were. _'Sleep, demon fox. Let the child get accustomed to you.'_

Naruto stopped trying to burrow himself into Harry, and fell asleep, curled up on the green-eyed man's lap. The fox in him had been forcibly put to sleep for a while, and it had only worked because the fox was still exhausted from being Sealed. Harry looked at the child, then up at the other three people in the room. "He's asleep, both fox and child."

"Awww, you two look so cute together!" Hyuuga Manji declared quietly. "Makes me wish for a camera."

Harry scowled. "Get over here blank-eyes, and take the brat. You need some practice, as I am sure that pretty soon you will have your own to worry about!"

Jiraiya and Sarutobi-san both cracked smiles at that, and Manji looked like he wasn't sure if he was to blush, be scandalised that Harry talked about his sexual life, get defensive, or just stand there and try to stutter out a reply. In the end the Hyuuga got himself together enough to take the baby from Harry, in the process also sending a glare at the green-eyed man who just smirked back.

Harry sighed and looked out of the window. "I suppose we start putting our lives back on track, and keep the Stone from completely annihilating us, huh?" he asked the Hokage.

The Sandaime Hokage nodded. "And many people will be clambering at your door, Harry-san. They saw what your three apprentices did during the fight, and they will want to learn as well."

The green-eyed man just nodded and started dreading the oncoming headaches. He'd had enough of them trying to not lose his patience whilst explaining things to the three apprentices, now he was undoubtedly going to have another group of people asking questions without stop and doubting the answers they received. _'This is going to be hell.'_

Jiraiya chuckled at the look on the younger man's face. "You will get through it, Harry," the Sannin said. "I would like to speak to you before I leave, if I may."

"Your treat." Harry shot back and the two of them started walking towards the exit.

"Harry-san." The Sandaime Hokage's voice stopped them, and Harry turned in time to catch something thrown at him.

It was a wolf-shaped ANBU mask.

"Wha-?" the green-eyed man managed to stutter out. To each ANBU their mask meant something, often the animal it depicted fit with the attributes of that particular shinobi, and it was a very personal thing as well. Only people the shinobi trusted knew the full truth about the meaning of the mask. It was a great honour to be given one, and hereby join the ranks of the ANBU.

"We need all the power we can get, Harry-san, and you need to be able to move around freely – something neither of us get with you being only a chunnin." Sarutobi-san said. "The mask depicts a wolf. A lone animal, yet also a pack animal. A powerful, dangerous hunter, yet also protective of their precious ones. A survivor, a leader, and an animal with amazing skills to adapt to change. But most of all, the mask depicts endurance. And endurance is something you have in bounds and leaps, especially with the mission you have put before yourself, Harry-san."

Harry stared at the Hokage for another couple of minutes in total, shocked silence. Hyuuga Manji was looking encouraging, happy, and also honoured that he'd been allowed to hear what the Hokage thought about the green-eyed shinobi who had become one of his best friends – especially now that he had lost the other one. Jiraiya just smiled slightly, and put a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

That brought Harry out of his shocked state. He bowed to the Hokage in thanks, then he hid the mask in his chunnin vest knowing that full ANBU regalia would be waiting for him once he got home. He turned back to Jiraiya. "Lets go, Jiraiya-san."

"Hai, hai." The white-haired pervert replied and the two left the Hokage Tower. Whilst they ate Jiraiya quizzed Harry out on anything concerning Orochimaru's movements, and Harry not only promised to contact the Frog Sannin whenever he knew something new, he also gave Jiraiya one of the communication medallions and explained how it worked saying that it would be much less conspicuous this way, and the sannin agreed.

Afterwards the two of them split off, and Harry went to talk to Neville, Luna and Ernie. He had to see which one of them was willing to change profession for a couple of years – which turned out to be Ernie. Harry only hoped that the Hufflepuff wouldn't let any of the kunoichi running the orphanage push him around and step all over him. He was sure they would try to do that since Ernie would be the one to take care of little Naruto, and he warned the Hufflepuff about it. Ernie assured him that he wasn't the same Hufflepuff he had previously been, and that everything would be alright. No one would mistreat a child whilst he was there! No sir!

'_I suppose that I shouldn't mention the distress call to the ministry at the end of our fifth year, which no Hufflepuffs replied to.'_ Harry thought to himself as he walked towards his apartment, stopping occasionally to help fix something up. _'I will trust Ernie for now.' _He decided as he entered his apartment.

The three standard sets of the ANBU-uniform neatly placed on his couch, caught his eye and he walked over to inspect them. After a while he placed the wolf-shaped mask on top of the middle pile, and stood up with a sigh. _'Orochimaru is going to love this, I'm sure.'_

**-x-x-x-x-**

He was correct in that assumption. It didn't take long before Orochimaru had heard about Harry's promotion to ANBU, and sent a message for Harry to meet him as soon as possible. It was also this message that made Harry consider the fact that the Snake Sannin could have another spy in Konoha, a very good spy at that, as very few people knew that he had been given a mask. He'd first considered Mitarashi Anko, but the girl totally hated Orochimaru and she even refused to be in the same vicinity as Harry, so she was clearly out of the picture.

'_But if not her, then who?'_ the green-eyed man wondered as he travelled towards the Rice Field Country, and Orochimaru's underground palace.

He'd left Morino Ibiki and Inuzuka Tsumé in charge of the fresh batch of apprentices. There were five who had passed his test this time around, and both Ibiki and Tsumé were good enough to start teaching the basics to the newbies. Hyuuga Manji had wanted to accompany him when he went to meet with Orochimaru, and he'd told the man flat-out no. Even if, as Manji had suggested, he waited for Harry in a village on the border of the Rice Field Country, Harry had protested and pointed out the fact that since Orochimaru considered the country as his own, that the place would be swarming with his spies.

"I will be alright, Manji," Harry had told the other ANBU as he checked his weapons for the last time before leaving Konoha. "And besides, the Stone can attack at any time, and you need to be here in case something happens."

The insane Hyuuga had looked very serious for a moment. "I don't want to lose another best friend."

Harry had stopped at that. Hyuuga Manji considered him a best friend? "You won't, and don't eat any sugar whilst I am gone, lest you mentally scar the entire gennin population – and freak out the rest. Someone needs to keep you on a leash." He replied finally before disappearing into the forest surrounding Konoha. The ANBU mask took some getting used to, he had to adjust his breathing pattern, and his sight was slightly hindered when it came to the peripheral vision, so the ears had to take over. Otherwise it went well, and he got used to it quickly.

And now he was racing towards Orochimaru's hideout wondering about the possible spy in Konoha, and also what had happened to Tonks in these past months. He hoped she had survived the Seal, and yet was worried on how this would change her personality. Last time he had spoken with Orochimaru – which was also the only time he had spoken with the man since joining up with Konoha – it had been in a small inn in the Lightning Country, and he hadn't seen nor heard anything about Orochimaru's newest _pets_. Remus had been furious when Harry had told him about Tonks, the werewolf in him demanding revenge for putting its mate in danger, and Harry hadn't protested. He knew he deserved it. He hadn't seen underneath the underneath in that situation, and it had proven to be a serious mistake.

'_I suppose I will soon find out what happened with Tonks,'_ he thought to himself as the doorway to the underground palace came into view. He stopped and sent a snake ahead of himself into the darkness to make sure that Orochimaru didn't attack him believing that someone under Henge was impersonating Harry. The green-eyed man waited for ten minutes before following the snake through the corridors.

Orochimaru was waiting for him in the chamber he had claimed as his throne room, the small snake Harry had sent ahead of him was wrapped around the sannin's wrist, and was enjoying being petted by the pale man.

'_Well, here we go.'_ Harry thought as he closed the doors behind himself. "Orochimaru-sama." He said and nodded his head respectively.

"Welcome back, Harry-kun. Tell me, how does it fare with Konoha?" The Snake Sannin smirked, and it looked somewhat insane in the flickering light of the few candles that were lit.

Harry thought the smirk looked scary. "Very badly at the moment. The attack of the nine-tailed demon fox has left the Hidden Village of Leaf in shock, and on the brink of civil war because of the brat that now acts as a container for the demon. The Akatsuki will be happy to hear that the baby is not liked at all, it would be easy for the organisation to kidnap him."

"Unfortunately I am no longer a member of the Akatsuki. Our opinions differed on a few crucial points, so I left." Orochimaru said, and Harry noticed at that point that the pale man wasn't wearing his Akatsuki ring. Instead the golden ring – different for each member of the organisation – was placed on one of the fingers of a hand which looked suspiciously like the Hand of Glory.

Harry had to wonder where the hell his grandfather might have gotten a hold of it. _'Something to mention to Hermione. If there is a black market between the Shinobi Continent and the wand-wavers world, then things could get really ugly.'_

"Well, well, grandson of mine, getting them to trust you so fast and becoming an ANBU in just a few, short months. You have been as busy as my spy said you were." The Snake Sannin nearly hissed in barely-contained triumph.

"Spy? I thought I was the only one." Harry couldn't help but say. Strangely enough, after hearing it from his grandfather's own lips, he felt… cheated? Jealous? Whatever it was, he didn't like it.

Orochimaru smirked. "There is nothing to worry about, Harry-kun. The spy is still very low on the Konoha food chain, just an experiment of mine – a back up in case you are found out – but you are still my own flesh and blood. Are you jealous, Harry-kun?"

"No, just surprised," Harry went for the nonchalant approach, hiding everything he was feeling deep inside himself. "Why did you call me? I doubt it was only because you wanted to congratulate me on becoming ANBU, and you know how difficult it is for me to sneak away."

"Ah yes, follow me, Harry-kun." Orochimaru led the way down several corridors, until they came to one that seemed to house living quarters. Only four of the doors were marked with names.

"Weren't there five people? Did one of them die?" Harry asked, feeling dread coiling up in his stomach.

"Nothing of the sort, Sakon and Ukon melted together. I have figured out all their strong and weak points, Harry-kun, and I have furthered their knowledge in techniques befitting of their strong points. Kidoumaru, Jiroubu and Sakon-Ukon fit together perfectly as a team with their individual strengths, but it is Tayuya that I want something special for." Orochimaru knocked politely on the door bearing kanji which spelt out 'Tayuya'.

"Something special?"

"I want her skill to be to fight with sound, like you did with that demon Cerberus."

The door was opened at that point, and a pale Tayuya glared at them from the doorway. "What'cha want, Orochimaru-sama?" she asked, nearly growled, clearly having trouble keeping any swear-words out of the sentence.

Orochimaru smiled charmingly. "Good evening, Tayuya. I assume you remember my grandson Harry, from your last encounter, hmmm? He will be teaching you a technique of the Hidden Village of Sound, one only you will master. Now, if you two will excuse me, I have so things relating to the Kaguya Clan and the Hidden Village of Mist to take care of."

Harry blinked and tried not to stare too much at Tonks. Instead he turned to his grandfather. "The Kaguya Clan? Aren't they the ones who can control their calcium-production and use their own bones to fight?" he asked.

"Mhmm," Orochimaru replied, then his eyes lit up and he smirked. "I have taken interest in a child who seems to have all the gifts that particular bloodline ever could produce. The Kaguya Clan fear him, he is different, and he should fit in right amongst us. His name, I believe, is Kimimaro."

"How are you going to convince the brat to join us?"

"By erasing the only people who might have understood him but didn't. The entire Clan only thinks of fighting, and they have recently had some disagreements with the Mist." He started walking again, and called over his shoulder. "Do not disappoint me, Harry-kun!"

The green-eyed man sighed and turned back to Tonks. "Tayuya-san, I believe that your rooms are currently the safest place to talk. May I come in?"

"Whatever, bastard." Tonks moved out of the way and, after Harry had entered, she slammed the door shut. As soon as she was sure that no one was eavesdropping, Tonks dropped the façade of Tayuya and threw herself at Harry, tears running down her cheeks.

Harry caught her and lowered them both to the floor. "Oh, Tonks, I am so sorry for everything. So sorry." He said as the woman sobbed. His own tears were kept firmly at bay. He suspected that despite everything the metamorphmagus had experienced before coming to the Shinobi Continent, that she had never experienced anything quite like the violent lives of the ninjas. The things she had probably been forced to do under Orochimaru went more or less against anything she had been taught at Hogwarts and at the Auror Academy. The clashing morals, kill or be killed. It was something Harry could relate to easily.

"So incredibly sorry." He whispered and let her cry.

"How did you do it?" the woman whispered after a while. "How the hell did you do it?"

"Did what?"

"Stayed sane in this environment. Knowing that you were the only person on the entire Shinobi Continent, your friends all far away, and the only means of communication were the medallions. The things you had to endure, and you had no one to talk about it to. I know that I have you to talk to whenever you come around, and none of the trading outposts are far away if I need a break from it all, but you were completely alone. The things Orochimaru makes us do gives even me – a trained Auror – nightmares, but you were once again alone… gods above, Harry! How did you stay sane?" Tonks looked on the verge of a breakdown.

Harry hummed comfortingly and stroked her back slowly. "Whenever I can, I go to a temple to pray for the dead. I am not a religious person by any means, but it helps to talk about it to the monks who are completely, amazingly neutral. There is a shrine to the east of here, go visit it when you get the time."

Tonks buried her face in his soft and manoeuvrable ANBU armour. "I miss Remus." She whispered.

"I know. I'm sorry."

They stayed like that for another while, until Tonks finally put herself together again. She quickly splashed her face with some water that stood in a basin in the corner, then the two of them got to work on the Sound-technique she was supposed to learn and master. As Tonks had never before played any kind of instrument, Harry had to teach her the correct grips and tones of the flute, and that was the only thing they had time for at that meeting. He told her to practice the movements until next time, and to go to the nearest trading outpost to get some music sheets for beginners, which he would contact the Order about as soon as he left the Rice Field Country.

"Good luck, Tonks," Harry said to the woman before he left, she only nodded to him and closed the door to her chambers. _'I am so incredibly sorry for this, Nymphadora Tonks. So incredibly sorry…'_

**-x-x-x-x-**

There, done. Please tell me what you think.

I can tell you right now that the next chapter will be completely devoted to Harry and Naruto moments, and their relationship.

Harry will use the Cerberus when I deem the time is right, and it still isn't. Everything in good time mates.

Thanks to:

Tombadgerlock, korrd, Japanese-jew, FireAngel8723, Kagome13Chan, loz, Fattyaddy-99, Ran Hoshino, Freeloaderz, Sarah R Potter, gahtzuah, Morrolan, candidus-lupus-full Moon, kisame, Falling Right Side-Up, anime-rulez3, Shadowed Rains, simpleinsanity, Morissa, Surarrin, Shadow Crystal Mage, dark672, LenJade, APS, Sk8er7 and Tokyo no Ecchi.


	10. Chapter 10

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Long chapter ahead mates. This is for two reasons: 1) I'm going on a trip with my class and won't be back until at least Saturday or Sunday. 2) My computer needs to be fixed and I don't know how long that will last. But either way, please enjoy the following chapter and please review.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Ten**

'_Oh the power to be strong,  
__And the wisdom to be wise,  
__All these things will come to you in time.  
__On this journey that you're making,  
__There'll be answers that you seek.  
__And it's you who'll climb the mountain,  
__It's you who'll reach the peak.'  
_**'Son of Man' from Disney's "Tarzan"**

The war against Stone was just like any other war in the history of the world: ugly and full of death. However, there also seemed to be some differences as well. No civilians were actively killed unless they were at the wrong place at the wrong time (no one wanted to kill their own clientele), and no one laid in trenches for years on end either. And, Harry supposed, he was glad for that because he was never a person to sit still if he could do something about it – as had been proved more than once.

So far the war had lasted almost two years.

At the beginning of the war, Kakashi had been accepted into ANBU. Harry kept an eye out for the boy out of respect for the Yondaime Hokage, and it proved to be a very wise decision on his part when Uchiha Obito was killed in one of the skirmishes between the Leaf and the Stone. Kakashi had lost an eye in the same battle, and Obito had with his last breath donated one of his own newly-developed sharingan eyes to the younger boy. Rin was the medic-nin who had transferred it, and Harry was the one who brought the trio back to Konoha.

Three days afterwards he'd been contacted by the Konoha Hospital staff. Apparently Kakashi had tried to take his own life, or at least gauge his new eye out. Why the staff had contacted _Harry_ of all people, the green-eyed man wouldn't know until he got to the hospital.

"Manji, Ibiki, will the two of you take care of things here?" Harry asked as he stood up and put his ANBU mask on. They were almost certain that the Stone had managed to capture – or had bought – dangerous creatures that rightfully belonged in the wizarding world. Now Harry's group of apprentices were trying to figure out what kind of creatures they were up against.

The Hyuuga nodded. "We'll manage."

"We'll be just fine, sensei," Ibiki added. "Go help Hatake Kakashi-san."

"Contact me if you need anything," the green-eyed man said and disappeared in a puff of smoke opting for the ninja-way of apparating.

At the hospital he was met by a frantic nurse. "Thank you for coming so quickly, ANBU-san," she said as they practically ran down the corridors and tried to avoid wounded and other personnel. "Hatake-san is completely out of control! We cannot get close enough to touch him, and all of our tranquillising darts are avoided or roasted by one of those Uchiha fire-techniques! Some are even turned back on _us_!" she opened the door to Kakashi's room.

Only one word could describe it: chaos. Total chaos.

"Yare, yare (my, my)," Harry sighed as he watched Kakashi throw unfortunate doctors and nurses all over the place. "Please stand back," he told the nurse kindly. He observed the pandemonium for another minute, then suddenly he darted in. As a testimony to Harry's incredible speed, Kakashi's face had an up close and personal meeting with the floor.

"Will you stop acting like an idiot?" the green-eyed, wolf-masked ANBU growled at the younger one who was slowly picking himself off the floor.

"What the hell? Where did you come from?" Kakashi demanded.

'_Still a child in some ways I see,'_ Harry thought. "I'll contribute the stupidity of that question to the hit you just took to the head." He said. "Now, would you be so kind and explain to me what the devil's going on here?"

"Stop lecturing me! I'm alright! There are no problems with me!" Kakashi suddenly clammed up and looked away.

One eyebrow was raised behind the mask. "Oh, really now? And I suppose your recent suicide attempt was a dream them?"

Kakashi lowered his head, his shoulders starting to shake. The nurses and doctors had already left, happy to let the ANBU deal with the impossible patient. Harry just stood there and waited for the boy to take the initiative, and after a long while the silver-haired lad sniffed.

"I lost them all. Arashi-sensei died to save Konoha from the demon. Rin was sent to Sand to act as an envoy, and Obito… Obito's…"

"Obito's dead," Harry finished, his voice emotionless.

The small teenager nodded and leaned over until his forehead rested against the ANBU-armour of the man in front of him. "I couldn't save him," came the whisper. "I'm a fucking _ANBU_ and I couldn't do anything!"

"You're not some superhuman, brat, you cannot save everyone."

"Yes, I could! It was my fault…"

Harry sighed and hit the brat up the head. The hit was almost gentle, loving. "You've just fallen into the two most dangerous traps of the shinobi world. You convinced yourself that something like _that_ could never, would never, happen to you or someone you care about because you're ANBU and would never allow it to happen. The second trap you fell into is that once the catastrophe actually happened, you think it's your fault and you drown yourself in guilt which can lead to – as demonstrated recently – suicide."

"I-"

"No, listen to me brat," he placed a hand on the youth's back, and Kakashi stepped even closer. "It's all about Murphy's law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong – at least when it comes to the first trap. As for the second trap, well, think of it this way: was Obito a ninja, and a chunnin at that?"

"Yes, but-"

"Alright, he was a ninja, we've concluded that. Now, the next question to ask is: did he know and accept the dangers, consequences and responsibilities of the life of a shinobi?"

"Yes, we all did. Arashi-sensei was very adamant that we understand it all."

Harry nodded. "Good, which means that Obito went into that battle knowing that he could get killed at any turn, and that he accepted it. You had nothing to do with it, brat."

Kakashi nodded slowly. "I… I see the logic, but it still hurts."

"I know, however you need to get used to it. It will always hurt, but time will mellow that pain to some extent. Remember this though, this is the life of the ninja, people _will_ die no matter what, and you cannot save them all." Harry sighed and awkwardly patted the head belonging to the boy who was using him as a handkerchief. "All you can do is your best to make sure that someone else doesn't have to g through the same thing. Even if you manage to save only one person the pain, it is still one person less. Honour Obito by accepting his gift to you, and honour your teacher by following his advice, and from there on make your own way through life."

There was a long silence in the room, and Harry started suspecting that Kakashi had fallen asleep. He was just about to pick the teen up and carry him back to bed, when Kakashi looked up at him with mismatched eyes.

The silver-haired boy tried for a small smile, though it came out more like a grimace. "Thank you." He whispered.

Harry smirked behind his mask. "Nothing to it, brat."

**-x-x-x-x-**

After two and a half years the war between the Leaf and the Stone was finally over, and the two countries had reached something of an understanding – although Stone still felt that they got the worst end of the deal. Either way, people from Konoha were happy as could be and started to rebuild their lives, both shinobi and civilians.

Harry was happy as well. Everyone he knew about had survived the war, both from his acquaintances in Konoha and the Order agents. His apprentices had gone from seven to fifteen, and Kakashi, Iruka and Itachi had gotten to know each other through him. They made an interesting trio, that's for sure. Hyuuga Manji was still going steady with his girlfriend, and was still freaking everyone else out. And that gennin the Hyuuga had corrupted the day Harry arrived in Konoha – Maito Gai – had reached chunnin rank and was sprouting stuff about 'the springtime of youth' left, right and centre, and even Orochimaru was laying low!

All in all everything seemed to be heading the right way for once.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Having Ernie Macmillan watching over Uzumaki Naruto in the orphanage was a good idea – for about two and a half years. It was at that point that the poor Hufflepuff caved under the stress of watching a hyper brat hell bent on getting into trouble, and also at which time the hate of the rest of the village became too much to bare.

"-I am sorry, Harry, but I just can't take it anymore!-" the distressed Hufflepuff said as he packed his bags. "-How you could ever stand a life like this, I will never know. I need a serious vacation back home in good old England.-"

"-You won't get much of a vacation there with Voldemort and his henchmen running about, Ernie,-" Harry replied from his perch on the windowsill, his ANBU mask resting on his forehead.

"-But you're keeping the Dark Lord busy, aren't you?-"

"-I try, but you cannot put your faith to that. I can't concentrate on Riddle all the time.-" Harry sighed. "-Well, I suppose you'll do what you want to do, just know that you won't be as safe as you think you will be.-" He pulled his mask back over his face.

"-I'm just sorry that I couldn't do more,-" Ernie said, but when he turned around to face the green-eyed man, Harry was long gone and hadn't left a trace of his presence.

The green-eyed man in question was jumping across rooftops wondering what would happen now. _'The Hokage needs to know about this, then we'll see.'_

After reporting to the Hokage that his agent in the orphanage couldn't take the pressure anymore, Harry headed back to the office to teach his apprentices. It wasn't until two weeks full of missions and skirmishes with Stone later that he finally found out what had happened to Uzumaki Naruto.

The Sandaime Hokage had placed the brat in an apartment right across the hall from Harry.

The green-eyed man found this out late one night when he returned from his latest mission. It had started to snow outside, and it was cold as hell in the corridor, and it would undoubtedly be just as cold in the apartment as well since he couldn't have safely let the heater stay on without burning down the complex. Harry was bloody, tired and sore, his uniform was torn and he had lost more weapons on this mission than ever before, but his team had pulled through and none of them were seriously injured or killed, and the goal of the mission had also been accomplished. The Team Captain had been a veteran ANBU brought back in from retirement, but the man had surprisingly been willing to listen to any of Harry's suggestions. Most people would have ignored him completely.

'_Sleep.'_ Was the only thing on Harry's mind as he climbed the stairs to the top floor of the complex. _'Wonderful, warm, rich, resting, beautiful, utter, slee-' _his thoughts screeched to a halt. There was a small child sleeping in the corridor. A small, blond-haired child, dressed in nothing else but a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that was way too big for his small, clearly slightly malnourished frame. The boy was shivering like mad, and his lips were slowly turning blue.

'_What the devil is going on here?'_ Harry thought as he strode over to the child, his exhaustion all but forgotten. He knelt down and brushed away some of the long, golden locks. Three whisker-like marks on the child's cheek caught his attention, and he sighed. _'So this is where the Hokage moved you, Uzumaki Naruto. Probably hopes that I will take you in. But what are you doing out here in the cold?'_

He looked around for a bag of clothes, or anything which might tell him if the child had been waiting specifically for him, or if he lived in the apartment opposite Harry's own. After finding no bags or anything else, Harry concentrated on the door, and he noticed the problem at once. The lock had been changed very recently. The new lock was shiny despite someone's attempts at making it look old and dirty, and what was clearly Naruto's now-broken key was stuck in the lock, the other part lying on the floor by the boy's hand.

'_I knew Kurosaki was a bastard, but I didn't think he would go this far.'_ The green-eyed man sighed again and looked down at the sleeping child. What was he supposed to do now? Should he report this to the Hokage? Should he go beat the shit out of Kurosaki? It was funny that he could make decisions so easily out on the field, but was completely clueless when it came to a brat.

Finally making up his mind, Harry first unlocked his own door and opened it. Then he went back and picked up the sleeping two-year-old, and carried him into his apartment. After placing the brat on the sofa, tucking two blankets around him and turning on the heater, Harry took a shower and changed his clothes. Afterwards he placed Naruto in his own room – it was smaller and would heat up quicker – and took the sofa for himself. His last thought was that the next morning would be very interesting indeed.

And it _was_ a very interesting morning. Harry was already up and reading the morning paper, when the door to his room slid open almost shyly, and a blond head peaked out with blue eyes focusing on the older man almost at once. Naruto's body followed his head out of the room, and the brat stood there almost shyly looking at the green-eyed man through his long bangs.

"What are you waiting for, brat?" Harry asked his voice neutral. He noticed the way the boy flinched at being called a brat, and stored it in his memory for later. "You're not getting a gold-inlaid invitation, kid, so get over here and sit down. I assume you would like something to eat?"

Naruto looked surprised, and then hesitantly he made his way across the small living room and tried to clamber onto one of the tall barroom chairs without success. He yelped and nearly curled up into a ball when Harry suddenly lifted him and placed him on one. Harry raised an eyebrow at the behaviour. The brat was terrified of human contact. That wasn't supposed to happen; Ernie was supposed to have been looking after the brat. Too bad Ernie had left two weeks earlier with the trading caravan when it passed through. It was all probably a coincidence.

'_Too bad I don't believe in coincidences,'_ Harry mentally growled, and made a note to contact Hermione. He concentrated on the small child again. "I'm afraid that I don't have much by ways of food for the moment. I just got back last night from a mission, and haven't had the time to go shopping yet. I hope you have nothing against instant ramen." He said as he pulled the equipment out of the cupboard. "Lets see, I've got plain chicken, Cajun chicken, chicken mushroom, chicken vegetable, spicy Chile chicken, creamy chicken, teriyaki chicken and miso ramen. Take your pick."

"M-m-miso r-ram-men." Naruto stuttered as he whispered his choice.

"Right, instant miso ramen it is." Harry nodded and three minutes later both of them were eating hot, steamy ramen. Naruto seemed to be slowly relaxing, but he still had the deer-caught-in-headlights look about him.

'_I have to do something about that,'_ the green-eyed man thought to himself as he got into his ANBU uniform. "Oi, kid!" he called out to the blond boy as he headed towards the door. "You can stay here for today if you wish until they get your door fixed." He put his wolf-mask on and, after sending one last look towards the shocked Naruto, disappeared through the door.

He made sure to lock the door and placed a few wards on it and the windows.

**-x-x-x-x-**

'_Though there's no one there to guide you,  
__No one to take your hand.  
__But with faith and understanding,  
__You will journey from boy to man.'  
_**'Son of Man' from Disney's "Tarzan"**

The snow had fallen, covering Konoha in a thick layer of powder and hiding the dangerous ice underneath. More than one person – civilian or shinobi – found themselves suddenly on the ground. The children were having snowball fights and building snow forts and trying to capture each other's flags, thusly practicing the skills they would need once they became full fledged ninja.

Harry had noticed a suspicious lack of missions coming his way. Any mission which needed wand-shinobi techniques were stolen right under his nose by Inuzuka Tsumé and Morino Ibiki under the pretence that the new apprentices needed to practice fighting the wand-shinobi creatures. The Hokage supported this, and so it ended up with Harry having lots of free time to himself. This gave him the opportunity to catch up with the Order agents placed all over the Shinobi Continent as he hadn't had much time to speak with any of them during the war. Ron had been promoted to ANBU, Hermione's shop was flourishing, as was Ginny's shop in Sand.

'_It's all going very well indeed – except for the Hokage trying to push fatherhood upon me.'_ Harry thought to himself as he headed across the rooftops. He was on his way home from the office after a night-shift as the Hokage's personal guard. The ANBU who had been supposed to take the shift had fallen ill, and the Sandaime Hokage had just grabbed the closest ANBU for the job – that ANBU proved to be Harry. _'I swear, that old man loves to torture me.'_ The green-eyed man grumbled and automatically sent chakra to his feet to make sure that he didn't slip on the hidden ice.

"You monster!" someone shouted suddenly.

Harry stopped up and turned towards the sound. It came from a small alley between two houses, and he jumped over there. Two men were leaning over a small form, and a crowd had gathered at the two alley exits, eagerly watching whoever it was getting ruthlessly beaten. There was even two Uchiha's there, their police uniform signalling that they were both on duty, but they didn't do a thing to stop the violence.

"You killed her! You killed my wife, you little piece of shit!" the oldest aggressor shouted and kicked his victim.

"You don't deserve to live!" the younger man yelled. "You ate my mother!"

'_Is this some kind of talk of cannibalism, or someth-'_ Harry's thoughts froze. The only thing which could eat anyone was a demon, which meant Kyuubi, which meant… _'Naruto!'_

"Die, you bastard!" the young man raised his hand, a kunai glittering in the cold light of winter.

Harry acted and used his so-far unrivalled speed to appear between the two attackers. He kicked the two men before anyone could react to his appearance, and sent them both crashing into the wall. "What the devil is going on here?" he growled from behind his wolf-mask, and people suddenly started to disappear once they registered that it was an ANBU that had just appeared. The two men got to their feet and charged at him, only to be thrown back again just as easily as the first time.

"What do you think you're going?" the older man roared. "That is a monster! It's not worth of your protection, ANBU-san!"

"Yeah, if you help us kill the freak now, I am sure that none of the people still here will report you to Hokage-sama!" the younger man added.

Harry wanted to rip these two limb from limb, but instead he simply turned and picked up the beaten and terrified blonde boy and started to walk out of the alley. "You two _will_ be hearing form the Hokage soon." He told the two men over his shoulder, then jumped to the rooftops again, Naruto safely clutched in his arms. _'Damn those two,'_ he thought as he observed the boy's injuries.

Neither of them said anything until they reached Harry's apartment. Naruto seemed surprised to be there again, and wide, blue eyes stared in recognition and surprise at the green-eyed man as the latter placed the boy on the kitchen counter then went to get the first-aid box. Harry removed his wolf-mask before he got to work cleaning and bandaging any and all wounds the little boy had.

"What were you doing in that alley, kid?" he opened the conversation, trying to make his voice as mild and gentle as he could.

Naruto took a long time to answer. "F-food," the boy stammered. "I h-hu-hungry."

'_Haven't even taught you to speak properly, have they?'_ the thought flashed across Harry's mind. _'Someone remind me to kill those kunoichi at the orphanage, and leave Ernie Macmillan in Ibiki's sadistic hands until the Hufflepuff talks. I need to know what happened in that orphanage. Oh, and also remind me to kill the people that were supposed to send the kid's welfare check – if they ever taught him to count and do mathematics. He's rather smart for a two-year-old brat. Must be the Kyuubi.'_

The t-shirt Naruto had been wearing was torn and there wasn't much left of it. Why the brat had been wearing a t-shirt in the middle of winter was beyond Harry, so he asked. The answer was surprising and also expected: Naruto didn't have anything else to wear. Nothing at all.

'_I had more when I was living with the Dursley's, and that says something!'_ Harry thought as he watched the kid shyly try to hide behind the toaster that stood on the counter. _'Mental note to kill those two Uchiha's that were there today. That was definitely not correct conduct from the Konoha Police, and I assume those two were the ones supposed to guard the Kyuubi holder for today, which makes it even worse.'_ He sighed. "Stay here, kid, I'm going to see if I can't find anything that might fit you."

Naruto just blinked in surprise and shock, and his jaw dropped when Harry returned with an orange pair of pants and an equally orange shirt. The set had been a gift from Luna at some point or other, and it was way too small for the green-eyed man. It would fit an eleven-year-old perfectly, but Naruto was barely three years and was malnourished. The outfit swallowed him completely.

"Well, it doesn't fit perfectly," Harry muttered as he rolled up the sleeves and the hems of the pants. "But it will have to hold for now. Besides, I think the colour rather fits you, all bright and shocking and wild like your hair." Naruto just sat there in his overly large outfit, looking shocked out of his wits.

"Er, I suppose introductions are in order," the green-eyed man mumbled suddenly feeling awkward and nervous under the boy's blue-eyed stare. "My name's Harry, just Harry. And you are?" he asked the boy despite already knowing his name, and stuck out his hand for a shake. The kid needed to learn how to speak properly, and – Harry feared – that teaching the boy other things like math and discipline would also fall on him.

Naruto stared at the callused hand in front of him, then slowly, hesitantly, he reached out and grabbed it with both of his. "I-I N-Nar-Naruto." He shook Harry's hand whilst sending looks through his bangs up at the older man, as if asking if he was doing it right.

Harry smiled and nodded and ruffled the boy's golden locks. "Now that we know each other, how about we eat something, hmm? How does instant ramen sound to you?"

The boy nodded shyly. "M-me l-lik-ke." He stammered and stayed on the kitchen counter, watching with fascination as Harry filled the kettle with water and put it on the stove, then turned the stove on. "Me l-like." Naruto whispered again, a small smile finding its way onto his face.

**-x-x-x-x-**

There was a storm raging outside, thunder and lightning shaking the houses and lighting up rooms. The wind howled like a wounded beast, and the rain was heavy against the walls and the windows. Harry had been lying awake for quite some time, listening to the storm and simply drifting from thought to thought no matter how random.

The sound of his apartment-door opening and closing alerted him, and he turned over and pretended to sleep whilst gripping a kunai which he had hidden under the tatami mats. The door to his bedroom was slid open next, and the pitter-patter of small feet reached his ears. He relaxed and let go of the kunai. He knew exactly who the perpetrator was.

"What are you doing here this late, kid?" the green-eyed man asked as he turned over and faced the blond boy.

Naruto stood there in a shirt too big for him as it was one of Harry's old ones, his pillow clutched to his chest. "I… ano… I…"

"You what?" Harry raised an eyebrow as the lightning flashed outside and thunder rolled. The complex shook and Naruto squeaked in terror. A second later he was buried under the blankets of Harry's futon, clutching to the older man's shirt with a death grip. "Right, you're afraid of the storm, I got it. But why are you here of all places?"

"B-because Harry-nii-san will protect me." The boy said from underneath the blankets.

Harry stared at the shivering lump for a long while, then he laid back down with a small smile. "Alright, but only this once, got it? Now go to sleep brat." Naruto happily cuddled up to him and Harry absently placed an arm around the small body. He lay awake for a long while after the boy had fallen asleep, just thinking of things that tickled his fancy.

It was the first time Naruto had called him big brother.

**-x-x-x-x-**

'_Son of man look to the sky.  
__Lift your spirit, set it free.  
__Someday you'll walk tall with pride,  
__Son of man a man in time you'll be.'  
_**'Son of Man' from Disney's "Tarzan"**

Introducing Naruto to Iruka was a very good idea. The two of them hit it off as soon as Iruka realised that the little boy wasn't the demon fox, and that Naruto really had nothing to do with the death of Iruka's parents. Iruka became the third person that Naruto was willing to trust, the second person being the Sandaime Hokage. But Harry, it seemed, would always be the person that Naruto was closest to.

"Do you want to go to Ichiraku's for lunch?" Iruka asked awkwardly. "My treat?" he added as he grinned and scratched the back of his head.

Naruto nodded eagerly and jumped up and down like an orange rubber ball. "Yeah! Ramen! Can I go?" he turned to Harry with pleading eyes.

"Sure, just don't do anything stupid, either of you." Harry replied and ruffled their hair.

**-x-x-x-x-**

It was storming again, and Harry was wetter than a mermaid's brazier as he trudged home from the Hokage Tower where he had just delivered the object of his mission, a scroll containing something or other that some feudal lord or other wanted. At the moment, he really couldn't care less. All he wanted to do was to get home, get warm and rest up, and tomorrow he would write up the mission report the Hokage wanted.

He happily opened the doors to his small apartment, and sighed in bliss when the lock sounded behind him.

What he hadn't expected was the shout of "Harry-nii-san!" followed by a orange blur attacking his thighs.

"Naruto?" the green-eyed man wondered. "What are you doing here?"

Naruto looked up at him with large blue eyes. "I accidentally took someone else's key because it didn't fit in the lock, and it broke again. Luckily I had the spare key Harry-nii-san gave me!" he proudly held up the key in question. Harry had given Naruto the key as a precaution in case Kurosaki tried to change the lock on the door again, and it had proven to be a very good thing indeed.

"Good boy, Naruto," the green-eyed man muttered as he absentmindedly patted the lad's yellow hair. He needed to speak to Kurosaki soon about all these changes in locks. No one else in the entire building was getting a new lock every two months.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Although Harry was very busy with missions and Orochimaru's orders, he still took the time to make sure that all of his, well, _charges_ for the lack of abetter word were alright, and to spend some time with all of them when he could. Itachi had graduated from the Academy, top rookie of the year et all, and the boy and Shisui (who had also graduated) had come rushing – or as much as an Uchiha would allow themselves to rush – to Harry's apartment and proudly showed off their new Konoha headbands.

Harry had grinned and ruffled the boys' hair. "Great work you two! Congratulations upon becoming gennin." The two had sent him beaming smiles and Harry had treated them to ice-cream. An added bonus was that it pissed Uchiha Fugaku off to no end.

As he walked past Ichiarku's, he had caught the voices of Iruka and Naruto.

"Why do you insist we eat ramen every single time we go out, Naruto?" the young Iruka was asking.

"Because it was the first thing Harry-nii-san offered Naruto." Naruto replied and slurped.

Iruka nodded. "Alright then, I can accept that. For Harry-san."

"For Harry-nii-san!" Naruto echoed.

The boys clinked their bowls together in a toast and continued eating.

Harry couldn't help but feel oddly warm all over. He supposed he was grinning stupidly as well, but he didn't do anything about it.

**-x-x-x-x-**

"What is the meaning of this, Kurosaki?" Harry demanded, his green eyes flashing behind his wolf-mask.

The man in question looked impassive. "What's the meaning of what, snake-spawn?"

"Why do you constantly change the locks on the lad's door? It's the twentieth time in three years, and the second time this month. The kid nearly froze to death again!"

"He doesn't deserve to live in my apartment complex! And while we're on the matter, neither do you!"

Harry growled. "This complex is owned by the Hokage and the Administration, Kurosaki, and you really have very little say on what goes on here or who lives here. Now mark my words, if you don't stop with your little games and keep away from both me and Naruto, I assure you that you will not like having me as an enemy. Especially not when the Hokage is on _my_ side."

Kurosaki's eyes narrowed. "Are you threatening me, traitor?"

"Yes, I am, and take the warning to heart, old man, or I will show you exactly what Orochimaru taught me."

Naruto, who had followed his Harry-nii-san, felt very warm and happy where he sat behind a large plant. Harry-nii-san was protecting him. He didn't know what Harry-nii-san was protecting him from, but the green-eyed man was still protecting him, and he vowed to protect Harry-nii-san in return. With his mind made up, Naruto headed back to his big brother's apartment. If Naruto became the Hokage one day, then he could protect Harry-nii-san from everyone, and especially old man Kurosaki.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Naruto met Sasuke – Itachi's little brother – when Itachi started to frequently visit Harry after he became gennin. The two children didn't hit it off at first, but they quickly got past their differences. Kakashi had resigned from ANBU and accepted to become a jounnin, and Iruka had just made it to chunnin rank and was pumping Harry for tips and ideas and information on everything and anything as he studied to become a teacher.

"But Harry-san, are you sure that this is the correct way to figure out how far you need to throw a shuriken if the wind resistance is twelve?" the young chunnin demanded.

Harry was about to answer when the doorbell rang. The green-eyed man sighed and stood up. "Kakashi, you explain it to him."

"Hai, hai, sensei." The masked teenager replied and turned his silver head towards the frantic teen beside him. "Now, Iruka-kun…"

His voice trailed off as Harry made his way through the zoo that his apartment had become. Itachi sat on one of the barroom chairs and was silently watching as Naruto and Sasuke turned the entire place upside down. Iruka and Kakashi sat on the sofa that Harry had just vacated, Iruka looking more terrified than ever as his final test to get into teacher-school was tomorrow.

"What is this, the official gathering place for Angsters Anonymous?" the green-eyed man muttered to himself and opened the door.

On the other side stood a terrified-looking Hyuuga Manji.

Harry blinked in surprise then demanded, "What the hell happened to you?"

"I… I…" the Hyuuga stammered.

"Right, get in, you'll fit in perfectly with the rest of the gang." The green-eyed man ushered the other into the apartment and sat him down beside Itachi. "Now, what is going on?"

"…"

"Yeeeeees…?

"I asked my girlfriend to marry me."

There was total silence for a moment.

"Chibi-Manji's running about mentally scarring people left and right…" Kakashi shuddered. "I have enough trouble with Maito Gai challenging me to a match at all times of the day!"

"I'm getting married!" Manji looked on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Ok, I got it, no need to shout." Harry muttered.

"But I'm getting _married_!" the Hyuuga grabbed his shirt.

"Terrific for you, congratulations and all that. Now will you please let me go?"

"Aren't you listening to me? _I'm_ getting _married_!" he shook the green-eyed man desperately. "I'm getting married! I'm getting married! I'm-!" he never got further than that because Harry's hand had shot out and his fingers had gently tapped the panicking man's forehead. Manji fell into a deep sleep.

"Sounds like a broken record." Harry sighed. "The rest of you brats in Angsters Anonymous go back to whatever it was you were doing and I'll bring this poor fool back to his own apartment."

"Be careful, Harry!" Naruto shouted happily.

"Hai, hai!" Harry called back as he shouldered the unconscious Hyuuga Manji and disappeared through the door.

**-x-x-x-x- **

'_In learning you will teach,  
__And in teaching you will learn.  
__You'll find your place beside the ones you love...  
__Oh, and all the things you dreamed of,  
__The visions that you saw.  
__Well, the time is drawing near now,  
__It's yours to claim in all.'  
_'**Son of Man' from Disney's "Tarzan"**

"I got accepted, Harry!" Naruto shouted happily and waved the letter right underneath Harry's nose. "I got accepted at the academy! And Sasuke got accepted as well! Our teacher will probably be Iruka-kun, and we'll probably end up on the same team, and-!"

"Calm down, kid," Harry chuckled and put down the final of the shuriken he had been inspecting. He had a meeting tomorrow, a meeting with none other than Orochimaru, and he needed to be well-prepared. "You haven't even started yet, it's too early to think about becoming a gennin and being put on a team. You're barely seven years old."

Naruto calmed and sat down on the sofa beside the green-eyed man. "I still don't see why you wouldn't let me enter the Academy when I was five. I could've passed easily, especially with all the training you and the others have given me."

Harry smirked and ruffled the boy's hair. "You are in no hurry, Naruto, enjoy life whilst you can. Now, the girl you mentioned last time, that Haruno Sakura, did she get in as well?"

The boy nodded eagerly. "And we're definitely going to be in the same class, because I say so!"

"Are you sure you don't have a crush on her?" Harry asked almost sounding innocent. Almost.

Naruto blushed and started stuttering again, and the green-eyed man only chuckled.

**-x-x-x-x- **

The door of his apartment opening and closing woke Harry from his sleep. Small feet went pitter-patter across the living room floor, and a second later the door to his bedroom was opened enough for someone small to get through.

"There ain't a storm outside, and I thought we got rid of that fear of yours years ago. So what'cha want, kid?" two sleepy, green eyes stared at the boy standing with his back to the sliding door. He absentmindedly noticed that Naruto was still using one of the shirts Harry had given him as a pyjamas, even though the boy had real ones stowed away somewhere. Surprisingly the picture warmed him and made him smile. Was this how all parents felt when they looked at their children?

Naruto looked at the floor shyly, clutching his pillow close to his chest, much like the first time he had come here. "Ano… I …"

A couple of fireworks went off and lit up the small room in red and green, and more followed. Music could vaguely be heard from the streets, and the sounds of people milling about and having fun didn't reach them, but they both knew the people were out there.

They were celebrating the defeat of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Harry sighed and lifted his blankets. "Alright, jump in, kid." Naruto lit up and did just that, happily cuddling up to the older man. "But only for tonight," the green-eyed man warned. "I'm allowing it only because it's your birthday."

The boy nodded. "Only for tonight." He agreed. "Good night, Harry-nii-san."

Harry stared at the boy for a moment. Naruto hadn't called him 'nii-san' for a ling time now, which had all been a part of Harry's plan to make the boy more independent. Apparently it hadn't worked as well as he'd thought, yet he couldn't help but feel warm all over again.

'_I'm getting old and soft,'_ the green-eyed man sighed. "Good night, Naruto."

**-x-x-x-x-**

Harry smirked at the brats sitting all around him. Hyuuga Manji was there, Kakashi was there, Iruka was there, Itachi and Shisui were also there, and the newest Team Seven consisting of Naruto, Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, were also there. All of them were celebrating that the team had passed Kakashi's bell-test and had officially been accepted as Konoha gennin.

"We're the best!" Naruto shouted happily and slurped up some ramen. "We totally aced that test, didn't we Sasuke?"

The young Uchiha nodded, a smirk on his face. "Yup!" he replied and high-fived with the blond boy beside him. Haruno Sakura nodded eagerly at whatever Sasuke said. She looked widely out of place in the group which consisted of three ANBU, her jounnin-sensei, her previous chunnin-sensei and a member of the Konoha Police Force.

"You did well, otouto," Itachi told his little brother proudly, and ruffled his hair. It was something he had picked up from the numerous times Harry had done the same to him. Sasuke just grinned happily.

"Definitely!" Shisui nodded with a grin and saluted the gennin-trio with his bowl of ramen.

Hyuuga Manji grinned as well. "As I said, there was no way the two of you could ever mess up, and Haruno-san, although you're excellent at recognising illusions, you need to get better – no offence meant."

Haruno Sakura blushed and looked away. She was ashamed of herself, all she had done was to recognise some measly illusion, it was Naruto and Sasuke-kun who did all the fighting and hard work. She would get better, both to prove to herself that she could and to make sure that she helped her team-mates in any way possible. Perhaps she could look up some healing-techniques in case Sasuke-kun or Naruto got hurt? Hmm, she would have to think about it once she got home, but right now she wanted to have some fun with her two team-mates and their crazy friends. The rest of the day was spent in a similar way, and none of them – not even Iruka – cared if they missed some appointment or other. This was to celebrate the newest addition to the ranks of ninja, and anything else could wait or be rescheduled.

After a long day Harry and Naruto parted with the rest and headed for their apartment complex. They walked in silence, both content with just staring at the stars and tired after the hectic day.

"We passed," Naruto muttered. "I dunno how, but we passed."

"You were excellent, Naruto." Harry grinned.

The boy perked up and smirked right back. "Of course I was! I'm the best ninja out there, and I'm going to become Hokage one day!"

"Right, as if, brat," came the well-used reply. This was a game they had played more than once.

"You don't believe me, do you? I'm going to become Hokage, and no old geezer like you will ever stop me!"

"I'll show you old geezer!" Harry shouted, grabbed the laughing boy in a headlock and ruffled his hair. "Give in yet?"

Naruto laughed even more. "No chance, old man!" he declared as he struggled happily.

Their laughter rang out in the street, the few people that passed them giving them a wide berth and shooting them freaked-out looks. This all just made the duo laugh even harder.

So began the ninja career of one Uzumaki Naruto.

'_Son of man look to the sky.  
__Lift your spirit, set it free  
__Someday you'll walk tall with pride,  
__Son of man, a man in time you'll be.  
__Son of man,  
__Son of man's a man for all to see...'  
_'**Son of Man' from Disney's "Tarzan"**

**-x-x-x-x-**

There, it's done. Wow, what a long chapter! Please review.

People will notice that a few things weren't mentioned (like the Uchiha massacre), this is either because I forgot them or because they're going to play a role later on in the story. I'm sorry about this chapter being something of a song-fic, but I think the song fit. I might throw in another chapter like this when it comes to Gaara if enough people want me to.

Concerning Ernie Macmillan and his actions. Well, the guy is a Hufflepuff, and although I don't think anything bad about Hufflepuffs in general, the women of the ninja world are rather violent. More on this in an upcoming chapter, so hold your horses! Harry's parseltongue-ability will not be known to the Konoha citizens yet, but perhaps at the Chunnin Exam. Dunno yet.

I got a question about pairings. Um, I am not good at writing romance, but I'm willing to try if enough people want me to. Anyone want any pairings in this story at all? And which pairings?

Thanks to:

Surarrin, E.A.V, gahtzuah, HarbringerLady, Sk8er7, Shadowed Rains, korrd, SensiblyTainted, anime-rulez3, candidus-lupus-full Moon, Sarah R. Potter, Saetan, Baka Shinobi, Ran Hoshino, Fattyaddy-99, Kagome13Chan, anti-thule, Tombadgerlock, arsenic-grafitti, FireAngel8723, sign, cheerful-pinkstar and Shadow Crystal Mage.

I also got my very first flame for this story, from one obsidian-fox. Don't know if I should be honoured or sad…


	11. Chapter 11

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Beware Douglas Adams-quotes, otherwise enjoy.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Eleven**

It was the damn message which started the chain reaction, Harry was sure of it. One little message – which was a very good and happy message, there was no denying that – had driven him to feel obliged to drink a toast in Ron's honour. And thus it had begun. One drink led to another, and the next thing he knew he was rip roaring drunk. And the worst thing was that he didn't give a damn. Now, Harry wasn't a person who constantly drank, but this was one of the few occasions he'd allowed himself the pleasure of forgetting absolutely everything – and to wake up with a killer headache next morning, but that was another case.

The message in question is as follows: **'I have just been promoted to the position of Mizukage stop Ron stop PS please help me now stop PPS preferably by shooting me stop'**

How Ronald Weasley – the short-tempered living embodiment of everything Gryffindor – had managed to become an ANBU was a mystery to Harry. So it was safe to say that this message thoroughly shocked him. How the red-head had managed to become the Mizukage – a _kage_ – was one of the world's great secrets, and even greater than the question 'what's the meaning and purpose of life' in Harry's opinion. Everyone knew that the answer to that question was 42, but no one knew how Ron became Mizukage, and no one might ever know. The world wasn't ready to know the answer to that yet, and might never be ready. Hermione would probably have a heart attack once she received the message. For once Ron had surpassed her in something. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime happenings, and would probably never happen again. Harry had to get the story out of Ron as soon as he could, if only to flaunt and taunt Hermione with the fact that he knew how this spectacular feat had been managed and she didn't.

The infamous morning after – full with pounding headaches and throwing up – arrived as it was wont to do, and Harry found himself woken up from his blissful, wonderful sleep by someone first knocking politely, then pounding furiously on his apartment door. He ignored it, but when his head began to pound with a vengeance, he got up on unsteady legs and stumbled through his small living space whilst wondering why everything was blurry and spinning, and why there seemed to be a double of almost everything, and a triple of the coffee table. He got to the conclusion that it was a genjutsu, and didn't think more of it even though he stumbled across something with every other step he took.

"Ookami (wolf)!" a voice which Harry barely recognised as Manji's, called through the door. "Ookami, we have a mission!"

"Are you even there at all, Ookami-sensei!" Itachi's voice wondered.

Harry wrenched the door open, and glared at them both. "What the devil do you two want?" he hissed quietly because his poor head couldn't take any more shouting right now. "Can't you see that I am happily suffering from a hangover, and would like to continue doing so in peace?"

"You're very articulate with your words for having a hangover." Manji muttered sulkily from behind his mask. "Why didn't you invite me to your little party, huh?"

"Or me?" the young Uchiha beside him demanded. "What was the occasion?"

"Nothing you two need to know at this point in time," the green-eyed man snapped. "Now, what the hell do you want? I heard you squawking about some mission…?"

A young, well-dressed woman stepped out from behind the two ANBU, and Harry labelled her at once as either a reporter or someone's secretary. She stared at him, apparently completely disgusted at the fact that he was suffering from a hangover, and her lips nearly curled at the state of his dress. "What a disgrace," she muttered, then turned to Manji. "Is this really the leader of Konoha's Wand-Shinobi ANBU Squadron?"

The Hyuuga nodded, and hurried to explain the situation to Harry who was slowly starting to process just what the young woman had said. "Ookami, this lovely young lady here is Xin Huyang-san, and she is the object of our long-time mission. We're supposed to allow her to interview us and show her the life of a higher-ranked shinobi from the 'inside' so to speak."

"She's from the Fire Country News," Itachi added upon seeing Harry's suddenly very blank look, and misunderstanding it. "The newspaper just recently attained permission from the Fire-Lord to go in and up close within the top ranks of shinobi. The public was apparently getting tired of the stories about gennin and lower chunnin."

"What are we, Cirque du Soleil?" Harry muttered. "Alright, get in here whilst I get more drunk."

"Ano…"

"Yes, I know that there is something seriously wrong with that sentence, but currently my hurt head– no, wait, that's wrong, my _head hurts_ too much to figure out exactly what it is, so please shut up and get in. Except the female civilian reporter thingy."

"Excuse me?" the woman demanded.

"I do, so off with you!"

Itachi sighed. "Ookami-sensei, it's already been approved by Sandaime Hokage-sama." He said.

Glaring, the green-eyed man relented and turned to swards his bathroom. "No pictures. I know I'm great and all, but no pictures of my apartm-" he was cut off as he walked into the wall. He blinked stupidly for a second, then demanded who the hell had put a wall right there, causing both Itachi and Manji to chuckle heartily.

The young, female reporter looked shocked. This was definitely not what she had expected when she got this assignment from her boss and the founder of the Fire Country News, Mr Creevy. She had envisioned that all shinobi – especially the higher-ranking ones – would be graceful, powerful and be surrounded by an air of danger. And if she ignored the little episode with that insane, black-haired man clad in a green spandex earlier that day (she assumed he was a patient from Konoha Hospital's mental ward), her wishes had been fulfilled. That is, until now.

She just stared as she watched the green-eyed man stumble and fall over his own sofa, a bundle of clothes in his arms. She just couldn't keep silent anymore. "You're supposed to be the one I'm to work with!" she screeched. "You're a disgrace to the entire shinobi world being as drunk as you are right now!"

"I may be hung over right now – hell, I might even still be drunk – but soon enough I shall be sober. However, there isn't a single force between heaven or hell that could do something about your ugly mug." Harry snapped right back without missing a beat. _'Stupid, naïve woman.'_

"_WHAT_!" the reporter shrieked in shock, but was promptly ignored.

Harry shut the door to the bathroom after himself, and the first thing he did was drink up another flask in his rarely-used store of Hangover Potions – provided for free by Hermione, of course. Then he groaned, leaned against the wall, and nearly beat his head against it as well. When he'd told Colin Creevy all those years ago that he didn't care what the eager photographer did as long as it was useful for the mission, he'd had no idea that the brat would set up the largest and most successful newspaper on the entire Shinobi Continent. And it wasn't to say that the newspaper wasn't useful, good heavens no, but right now it was making his mission even more difficult. He knew that Orochimaru read the newspaper every day, and if that stupid little reporter wrote something she wasn't supposed to, something confidential – even if she didn't know she wrote it – it could lead to Harry being discovered and mauled by the Snake Sannin, and 17 years of work would be thrown out the window.

He continued cursing his bad luck as he got dressed in his uniform, and exited the bathroom just in time to hear the reporter's unpleasant voice demand if he was drunk and totally devoid of manners all the time. He stood still wanting to hear what the other two would reply. For some reason this was very important to him, though he had no idea why.

Itachi shook his head. "He usually never drinks more than a cup of sake when we're out."

Manji nodded his agreement. "Nope, you were just lucky!" the Hyuuga grinned behind his mask as Xin Huyang growled. "Come to think of it though, this is the first time I've seen him drunk or with a hangover."

Harry strode out of the bathroom and tried to ignore the warm feeling that was suddenly stuck in the vicinity of his heart. He was feeling it far too often in the past couple of years. "And it will be the last time," he said as he grabbed his wolf-shaped mask from a shelf. "Well then, shall we get going?"

"Hai, Ookami-sensei." Itachi and Manji stood up and followed Harry to the window. "Across the rooftops again?" Itachi muttered more as a statement than a question.

Harry nodded. "It's faster. Besides, I have a few things left to deal with, and the Hokage wants the newest reports in today."

"Hey!" Xin Huyang called. "What about me? Although my boss gave me thorough training so that I could keep up with you and defend myself when I join you on missions, I have no chance of jumping across the rooftops in _these_ heels!" she pointed to her two-inch, very thing heels.

"Then you will simply walk to the Hokage Tower." Harry replied. "Lets go!" he said to the couple of ANBU standing beside him, and, after opening the window, he jumped out, quickly followed by both Itachi and Manji.

The three of them disappeared and left a thoroughly pissed off reporter behind.

"Oh! That… that… that insufferable _MAN_!" the young woman growled as she stared out across the rooftops of Konoha. "Just wait until I get my hand on him! Grrr! _YOU HEAR ME, OOKAMI-ANBU!_ _I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ONCE I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!_" Needless to say that she was heard by half the ANBU-members of Konoha, and was put under surveillance five minutes later.

**-x-x-x-x-**

In the beginning the universe was created. This, however, has made a lot of people angry, and has been widely regarded as a bad move. Well, it was safe to say that Harry was completely pissed off right now. That little tramp of a reporter, Xin Huyang, had somehow managed to find out the close relationship between Harry and his group of 'Angsters', and had written an article about it for the rag she and Creevy called a newspaper. And although the relationships in question weren't really all that secret amongst the higher ranks of shinobi, there were some people that definitely weren't supposed to know that Harry had a heart. He had his reputation as Orochimaru's grandson to keep after all, and Orochimaru shared first place with Voldemort on the list of People Who Did _Not_ Need to Know. Fourteen years of hard work to keep things secret had just gone straight out the window, and within a day of the article being printed Harry had had a black, snake-marked piece of paper shoved under his door signalling that Orochimaru wanted to speak to him.

'_Even if the little bitch meant it well, I am going to kill her,' _the green-eyed man had decided upon reading the article. How reporter Huyang had gotten hold of so much restricted information about him… well, Harry could only theorize, and he seriously suspected Kurosaki. The old man still watched him like a hawk after all these years, and knew very well exactly who used to frequently visit him. He also suspected that hippie-freak Maito Gai, although the weirdo probably did it out of the goodness of his heart – or just as another challenge to Kakashi. The point was, the damage had been done, and it had been done so good that Harry actually feared for his life this time.

"Say you broke your leg," Manji suggested, his voice full of worry. "Or even break your leg. Get into a fight with some missing-nins – or, better yet, some Akatsuki members. Or blame it on the Sandaime Hokage! Hell, just do whatever it takes not to go to this meeting; you know you won't come out of it alive!"

Harry sighed and continued to place bottles of various healing-potions in a satchel he would hide before he reached the designated meeting spot. He was sure he would need them before this was all over and done with. "You know I can't, the longer I wait to confront him the worse it will be."

"Well, some people don't calm down over time," Kakashi commented from his place on one of the barroom stools. He'd been told about Harry's role as a spy quite some time ago, and it was clear that – just like Manji – he didn't like it. "I suppose I shall have a chat with both the Sandaime and Huyang whilst you're gone, and Huyang's boss while I'm at it. We need to set some rules about what should be allowed to write about, and what should be strictly confidential. Especially about ANBU-related cases."

Manji nodded in agreement. "Just wait until I get my hands on that reporter… actually, just wait until _my wife_ gets her hands on her. Chihiro adores you for some strange reason, Harry, and she won't hear a bad word about you – not even from Hyuuga Hiashi-sama or from Uchiha Fugaku-san."

"Thank her for me, will you?" Harry asked with a small smile, then he sighed. He was ready, his weapons were ready, his medical supplies were ready, he really had no reason to put this off any longer. Somewhere in the back of his mind a small voice whispered that no man at the age of 35 should be afraid of their grandfather, but he ignored it. He tried telling himself that with Orochimaru being 67 years old now, that the Snake Sannin couldn't do anything serious to harm him, but he couldn't bring himself to believe it at all. Orochimaru had finally perfected his Immortality Technique a four years ago despite all of Harry's hard work to destroy the process, and he had gotten himself a new body. So although the man looked like he was in his late fifties, he had the strength and vitality of a teenager.

"Sensei, I really don't like this," Kakashi sighed finally. "At least take one of us as backup. I know for a fact that Itachi has the entire week off."

Harry shook his head and put on his ANBU mask. "I can't ask you to go into danger for something that doesn't concern you."

"You concern us!"

"I will be fine, stop worrying." The green-eyed man did one last check of his supplies before he walked through the gates. "I will be back as soon as I can, and Kakashi, check in on Naruto for me occasionally, will you? The brat doesn't eat anything but instant ramen, and he'll turn into a noodle soon if we don't watch his diet carefully."

"Hai, sensei." Came the sighed reply.

Harry smiled at them from behind his mask, then set off at a fast pace through the surrounding trees. He was soon out of hearing and out of sight of the two people standing just outside the gates of Konoha, and the two men sent each other serious looks before they returned to watching the trees.

Manji's eyes narrowed. "I have a bad feeling about this. Hell, I have a bad feeling about every meeting he goes to, but this one is especially bad."

Kakashi nodded. "Definitely. I'll go track down the reporter and the Sandaime, and you get over to Itachi's apartment and send him after Harry. I may not be Orochimaru, but I know how I would react if it were me. It wouldn't be a pretty scene."

"It _won't_ be a pretty scene," the Hyuuga agreed and pulled his mask over his face. "I'll see you later." He said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The silver-haired jounnin stood there for another minute before he took to the rooftops, heading straight for the Hokage Tower. He had some things to clear up with a certain reporter, and if Harry was killed because of Xin Huyang's mindless article – which, he might add, had been printed without permission from those involved – no force between heaven and hell could stop him from extracting his revenge. And he knew several people who'd gladly join the fun. Harry had unknowingly changed so many lives since he'd arrived, and even _Gai_ would be willing to help, which said something when one knew that Harry practically ran the other way when he heard Maito Gai approaching.

'_Be careful, Harry-sensei.'_

**-x-x-x-x-**

Harry met Kimimaro on the way to Orochimaru's hidey-hole. The bone-manipulator had grown into a fine young man, but – like most the people Orochimaru surrounded himself with – he had one angsty childhood. He'd of course been 'saved' by the Snake Sannin, and from there on had been one of Orochimaru's most loyal followers. That was the story behind most of Orochimaru's followers, even Harry himself to some extent.

"Harry-sama!" the pale young man exclaimed with a small smile as he jumped up beside the older man. "It is good to see you again, Harry-sama!"

"Kimimaro-kun," Harry nodded his head respectfully, a smile hidden behind his ANBU mask. Kimimaro was one of the few people in Orochimaru's employment that he actually tolerated, and Harry had spent almost all his time with the boy when he had first arrived. "How have you been lately?"

The white-haired shinobi looked down in shame. "I… I have gotten some sort of sickness, and it only seems to get worse. Soon I won't be able to help Orochimaru-sama at all. The healer-nin said that I'd do best with bed-rest, but-"

"What healer was this?" Harry asked. All shinobi could take care of themselves, but none of the people Harry knew about could have earned the title of healer-nin. It could, of course, be someone his grandfather had brought in recently, but he didn't want to take the risk.

"It was Kabuto-sama." Came the reply. "Surely you remember him, Harry-sama? He was at the headquarters the last time you visited."

"Ah, yes, Kabuto. Yes, he does have some healing-training, doesn't he?" Harry muttered. He was sure he had heard or read that name somewhere before. He'd have to check it out once he got back to Konoha. "Tell you what, Kimimaro-kun, if you can tell me what you know about your illness thus far, I will see if I can find in my wand-shinobi books."

Kimimaro smiled. "You don't have to, Harry-sama-"

"It's alright, Kimmy-chan, I don't mind. I like you." The green-eyed man looked over to the younger one, and noticed that the latter was smiling even more, his blue-green eyes glittered happily. "What?" Harry asked.

"You haven't called me 'Kimmy-chan' in years, Harry-onii-sama."

"And you haven't called me 'onii-sama' in just as long, Kimmy-chan," Harry replied with a chuckle. "It's hard to forget such a special brat as you." He wondered just how many people were going to end up calling him 'big brother' or 'teacher' or 'lord' or whatever else that came up. Most, if not all of them, would be disappointed when they realised that he wasn't working for either Orochimaro nor the Hokage.

Although Kimimaro was a professional shinobi and trained in keeping his face devoid of emotions, he couldn't keep himself from looking like he had just received the greatest gift in the world. "Thank you, Harry-onii-sama."

"Anytime, lad."

Soon afterwards they reached the designated meeting place. It was a small glen set at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by humongous stones and old trees, and no one ever came here. Warding-_ofuda_ were placed on each stone, and were activated as soon as Harry and Kimimaro passed between two of the rocks. A shimmering, light-green shield appeared around them in a bubble. It even went underground and would prevent people from listening or escaping. It was one of Harry's own inventions, and right now the man was cursing himself for even having made it.

Orochimaru was waiting in the glen along with his personal group of bodyguards. Kidoumaru was still resembling a spider, Sakon-Ukon was still a freak, Jiroubou was still fat, and Tonks was still playing the role of Tayuya. None of them looked very happy, but Orochimaru looked just plain pissed off. The Fire Country News was clutched in his hand, and Harry didn't have to look to know that it was opened on the page with Huyang's article about him and his little group of angsters. He nearly winced. This was not going to be a fun meeting at all. He'd be lucky if he didn't lose a limb or two. Surprisingly Orochimaru didn't go straight to interrogating Harry about the article, but started speaking about the Chunnin Exams which would be held in Konoha approximately in half a year's time.

"As we all know the Chunnin Exam will be held in Konoha soon," the Snake Sannin began, "and I want Otogakure to finally step forwards as a true Hidden Village. We shall send the Dosu-Kin-Zaku trio to compete, they are the only ones good enough at this point in time. Not only that, but we shall also attack Konoha at the end of the Exam."

Everyone in the glen blinked in surprise.

"Excuse me for saying so, Orochimaru-sama, but Otogakure isn't even close to being strong enough to attack a large village like Konoha." Tonks pointed out carefully.

"I know, which is why we shall alley ourselves with Suna."

"The Sand? Why the Sand?"

"Because the Leaf has taken so much of the Sand's customers, and their shinobi aren't happy about that." Orochimaru smirked. "Or, at least, that shall be the official reason."

"In truth the Sand will take the fall should anything go wrong. They will take the brunt of the Konoha forces, whilst our own people take care of the most important assassinations, amongst them the Sandaime Hokage. The Kaze kage won't allow this no matter what you tell him, you do know that right?" Harry commented.

The sannin smiled at him. "Hmm, still as sharp as ever. And you are, of course, completely right on both accounts. The Sand will take the fall, and the Kazekage _will_ agree to help us whether he knows it or not because I will take his place. Any objections to this?"

Kimimaro shook his head and answered, even though the snake-like man was solely focused on Harry. "Not at all, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru suddenly adopted a mocking, thoughtful frown. "Ah, yes, that reminds me…" he shot forwards, and with all his speed and strength grabbed a hold of Harry and sent the green-eyed man straight through one of the enormous rocks lying about. The momentum was none-too-kindly stopped by the green shield, and Harry gasped for breath whilst he tried to get to his feet. Orochimaru simply delivered a roundhouse kick, and sent him sprawling again, this time with his shoulder dislocated. The wolf-mask had been destroyed already, and even though Harry's instincts were screaming at him to fight back he didn't. he knew that it would only make things worse, and Orochimaru would get even more suspicious. It continued on like this for a while until finally the Snake Sannin simply grabbed the front of Harry's ANBU armour, and slammed him up against one of the rocks.

"Now, grandson of mine, would you care to tell me exactly why you kept this from me?" he held up the article Hyuang had written right in front of Harry's beaten face. "You know just how long I have wanted to get my hands on an Uchiha, and yet you didn't tell me that you were _friends_ with three! Not only that, but you seem to be the caretaker of that Kyuubi-brat, caretaker of all that power! All this I had to find out through a newspaper instead from you personally, not even my second spy knew about it!"

Harry struggled to breathe. Several ribs were broken, and he was worried that a lung might be punctured, but still he replied, wheezing. "A… a per-personal pet proje-project… didn't want to get your hopes up in case it didn't… didn't work…"

"Personal pet project?" one black eyebrow was raised. "Explain!"

"… yo-you could al-alwaysss use more men and spies, Oro-Orochimaru-sama," Harry coughed, "so I… so I started to play the big-brother role to them…"

The Snake Sannin loosened his grip, his eyes lighting up with understanding. "And slowly started converting them to our way of thinking." He finished the sentence Harry had begun, a calculating look upon his face. "You truly are my grandson, no one else could have done something that both pisses me off and also makes me very proud at the same time."

Harry dropped to the ground as soon as Orochimaru released him. He knew he had damaged his ankle, and there was no chance of him getting back to Konoha by jumping through the trees. He'd have to make himself a crutch as soon as he could. His thoughts were cut off suddenly as Kimimaro kneeled beside him and helped him to get up, allowing the green-eyed man to lean heavily upon him. "Thanks, Kimmy-chan…" Harry trailed off with a cough, blood landing on the ground.

Kimimaro nodded, his eyes worried. "Anytime, Harry-sama."

Orochimaru was walking to and fro, deep in thought. Finally he stopped and turned back to Harry and Kimimaro. "As usual you have turned the situation in your favour, Harry-kun, and you will live yet another day. Disasters seem to have a habit of turning into miracles around you, grandson of mine, but I am starting to wonder just exactly to whom your loyalty really belongs."

The Sound Five looked shocked that their master would even dare to suspect his own flesh and blood of treason. As far as they knew Harry was Orochimaru's most loyal follower, and also the one who'd been with the Snake Sannin the longest. It was totally incomprehensible to them that Harry would be a traitor, and it also made them wonder if there weren't more double-crossers about – perhaps even Orochimaru himself?

"M-my loyalty… belongsss to you o-only, Orochimaru-sama…" Harry rasped and Kimimaro's arm tightened slightly in worry.

"Hmm, are you willing to prove it to me, Harry-kun?"

"I am."

"Just what are you willing to do to prove it?"

"… any-… anything it…. it takes…"

Orochimaru smirked. "As you wish, grandson of mine. **Juin Jutsu Orochimaru!**" _(Cursed Skill Orochimaru!)_

To Harry it almost went in slow motion. Orochimaru's neck grew longer, fangs grew in his mouth, and his head shot towards the duo at an alarming speed. Harry pushed Kimimaro out of the way almost absentmindedly, and then – unable to stop his reflexes – apparated his good arm up in front of his face for protection. Orochimaru bit down on his wrist a millisecond later, his fangs going straight through the standard ANBU armguard and into the flesh beneath. And although the fangs didn't go as deep as the Snake Sannin might have wished, it was still enough to allow him to inject the younger man and the black seal formed, taking on the shape of three lightning-bolts all connected in the centre. As soon as Orochimaru let go of his wrist, Harry fell to his knees, biting his teeth in pain.

"I have no doubt that you will survive my Cursed Seal, Harry-kun, you are after all my grandson. And if you do not survive it, well, then you weren't worth my time after all." The Snake Sannin smirked as he watched the kneeling man try to keep from screaming, those green eyes slowly losing focus. To tell the truth he'd been looking for a long time now for a reason to place the Cursed Seal upon his grandson, and here he had been presented with a perfect situation. Far be it for him to ignore it.

"Harry-sama!" Kimimaro kneeled down beside the black-haired man again. "Are you alright! Harry-sama!"

Orochimaru – completely ignoring Kimimaro – bent down and grabbed Harry's chin, forcing their eyes to meet. "From now on remember to whom your loyalty belongs, grandson of mine." He smirked and stood up again. Walking over to a boulder he ripped the warding-_ofuda_ in half, and the shimmering shield disappeared with a crackle of electricity. "Lets go."

Kimimaro was by now completely holding Harry, worriedly watching as the green eyes closed and sweat began to form on the lightning-bolt scarred forehead. Harry's body began to shake, his bitten wrist turning red and purple and swelling slightly. "Harry-onii-sama, hang in there." The pale, young man whispered and picked the older man up as he got to his feet.

"What are you doing, Kimimaro-kun?" Orochimaru asked without even turning.

"Aren't we taking Harry-sama with us so that he can ride out the First Stage of the Cursed Seal at the headquarters?"

"Leave him there, my grandson needs to be taught a lesson. He's been getting far too friendly with the Konoha shinobi lately. I want him to realise that none of them care for him, he will see that when he wakes up alone. I want him to come crawling back to me, Kimimaro-kun, so just leave him there."

The bone-manipulator found himself for the first time wavering in his loyalty to Orochimaru-sama. Sure the man had taken him in, rescued him from the stone prison he'd been in for the first six years of his life, but this was Harry-onii-sama…. "Orochimaru-sama… I… Harry-sama…"

The sannin sneered. "You're getting weak just like my grandson. Alright, carry him to the closest path, and then return to the headquarters."

Kimimaro bowed as much as he could with Harry in his arms. "Arígàtou gozáimashità (thank you very much), Orochimaru-sama!" he didn't care that Orochimaru-sama saw him as weak as long as Harry-onii-sama was alright. It was a new experience, especially going against his master's orders. Kimimaro took off in the opposite direction of Orochimaru and his four bodyguards, all the while keeping a firm hold of his precious cargo. He soon reached a well-used path and carefully placed the unconscious man against a tree, made sure he would be alright – or, as alright as one could be after having the Cursed Seal placed one oneself – and, with a last look, disappeared back towards the headquarters. Therefore he didn't notice the Konoha ANBU with a weasel-shaped mask suddenly dropping from the trees, carefully picking up Harry in his arms, and then disappearing in the direction of Konohagakure.

Murphy's Law had just kicked in after being on vacation for the past twelve years.

**-x-x-x-x-**

There. Please tell me what you think about this.

Er, yes, Kakashi is still the jounnin-sensei of Team 7 – that's not going to change. Manji simply knew how badly Sakura performed because he was told. Or he spied on them during the test. Who knows, they're ANBU-level ninja, not even I can keep track of them.

Concerning Kimimaro. Well, I quite like the guy, and I kinda figured someone like him would see Harry as a big-brother-figure, besides it's kinda cute. At this point in time I can have him faithfully following Orochimaru and meeting his end, or follow his Harry-onii-sama and live. Depends on what you guys want, so please tell me. And don't worry, Ernie will get his due. Severus and Draco will be making an appearance soon, and I think even Voldemort will be able to threaten his way in somehow.

Many of you have asked about the Uchiha Massacre. All I am willing to say about that at this point in time, is that I have no comment. Plot Bunnies are being formed in my head – and under the sofa – but they're not finalized yet. However, there is a great chance of _something_ happening.

Thanks to:

Surarrin, korrd, E.A.V, anti-thule, Rachel Sedai, Falling Right Side-Up, Krows Scared, deadwish, Saffron Cyanide, Kagome13Chan, Shadowed Rains, candidus-lupus-full Moon, Fattyaddy-99, Calidore, Shadow Crystal Mage, arsenic-graffiti, VB, Sk8er7, hittocerebattosai, Geminia, simpleinsanity, Saetan, Dragon Fairies, Tombadgerlock, cheerful-pinkstar, Lucifer's Following, Morrolan, Ran Hoshino, SensiblyTainted, japanese-jew, JayHun, Kaaera, DreamingRabbit, anime-rulez3, FireAngel8723, Gato-sama, Ox King, magerm, gahtzuah, Mizutama, Suma goddess of darkness, Kotetsu, scythe195, A-Brighter-Dawn, Anave Lipad, Quicksilver4, darkshaman817 and Unorthodox King.


	12. Chapter 12

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** I am sorry this has taken so long, that's all I can say in my own defence – and hope that you enjoy the long chapter ahead. Other than that beware of terrible maiming of the Japanese language. If some people out there that can actually speak the language would help me translate the technique in question, just send me a review or a mail, and I'll put it up in the beta-ed version.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Twelve **

'_Through the chill of winter  
__Running across a frozen lake  
__Hunters hard right on his trail  
__All odds are against him  
__With a family to provide for  
__But one thing he must keep alive  
__Will the wolf survive?  
__Will the wolf survive?'  
_**"Will the Wolf Survive?" by Waylon Jennings**

He was hot, then he was cold.

He was aware of people around him, shouting and screaming things he just couldn't seem to grasp and hold long enough to understand.

"Watch the wrist!" a voice shouted.

"Does anyone know how to seal up that Seal!"

"Someone send a message to Jiraiya-sama!"

There was more shouting and the sound of people running after this proclamation.

Harry wondered what was going on. Why were they acting as though someone important was about to die? People these days really needed to learn how to relax. He was almost positive that all the stress of today's world was the reason for bastards like Voldemort and Orochimaru. He knew with his entire being that those two pre-mentioned individuals were the most evil creations of man, yet he couldn't bring himself to care at present. He was floating in a comforting darkness, and he was so incredibly tired.

He had no idea where these thoughts were coming from. Did he really know someone named Voldemort? Didn't that mean flight-from-death in some weird, ancient language? And what kind of name was Orochimaru anyway? Why did he know that in the first place?

"He's slipping!" someone's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Quick! Give me that needle! We need to shock him into wakefulness – or as close as we can get him to it – otherwise he will slip into a coma!"

Harry decided he didn't want to wake up. Waking up would bring so much trouble and responsibility and other things he was sure he didn't want to know about.

"It's not working! He seems almost determined not to wake up!"

Harry fell asleep and heard no more.

**-x-x-x-x-**

If the sounds of a scuffle came from the doorway hadn't woken him, then the voice quickly following certainly did.

"Hey! Stop it! You aren't allowed in here! Stop them!" the annoying voice yelled.

The exclamation was followed by crashes and curses and shouts and other annoying noise, and Harry frowned in his darkness. Was there no peace to be had around here?

His thoughts were cut off by someone grabbing his hand, and a young boy's voice flashed through the darkness like lightning. "Harry-nii-san! Wake up, Harry-nii-san! You can't leave me now!"

Nii-san? Big brother? Who would call him big brother?

"Come here you little monster!" a gruff voice growled angrily and the small hands wrapped around Harry's own tightened.

"Please!" the boy's voice was nearly sobbing. "Harry-nii-san!"

There it was again. Big brother. Perhaps he should open his eyes and tell the boy that he had the wrong person?

"Stop fighting, brat!"

Brat? Harry knew that he used that word himself quite often; however, he also knew that it never was uttered in a tone full of hate and dislike.

"Let me go!"

"No you don't!" the voice lowered as the person whispered, "If Orochimaru's grandson finally dies, then you will have no protection, monster, and then it will be open season on brat-hunting!"

"Like hell it will! Harry-nii-san will not-!"

The boy's voice was suddenly cut off by the sound of flesh hitting flesh. "Shut up, monster!"

Why wasn't anyone doing something to stop this, Harry wondered as he started to get angry. Abusing a child! Honestly!

"Why don't you just kill the brat now and get it done with?" a female voice sneered.

This was starting to get seriously out of hand. He started to force his way through the darkness, trying to find the way out.

"Che! You're right, give me that scalpel."

"Let me go, you bastard!"

That boy's voice sounded so familiar, so dear to him. He had to know who it was.

Harry growled at the darkness holding him back. There was a child out there that was going to get killed, and no one seemed to be doing anything about it. The bloody bastards! Damn darkness! There! He could see it! An opening that was growing bigger and bigger! The light at the end of the tunnel to put it in cliché terms. Harry pushed even harder and kept his eyes firmly on the growing light, refusing to close his eyes even though he knew they would sting and he would be practically blinded for a moment. But he had other senses to help him out, senses that were slowly awakening. He could smell the annoying sterilised scent of the common hospital and the doctors and nurses. He could hear other things now and he didn't have to focus anymore on understanding it all. He could feel the bed he was lying on, the clothes he was in, and – most importantly – the pain from his wrist.

Well, if he couldn't use his arms, then he'd have to use something else.

"Let the boy go and focus on saving Harry!" a voice shouted.

"Let my best friend go, you bastard!

"Watch it, they've got tranquillisers!"

"The Hokage will most certainly hear of this!"

Finally, the cavalry arrived, though he had no idea why or how they knew Harry himself. That gave him the time to gather the necessary energy for this little trick. It was all instinctual. The blue-tinted energy flowing through him was quickly, but carefully gathered, and the flow was directed towards his eyes.

"Damn it, we're too far away!"

"Sakura! Watch out!"

"Where is Gai when you need him!"

"Kakashi-sensei, can't you do anything?"

If you want something done, you've got to do it yourself, Harry concluded. Luckily he had enough energy gathered and prepared to execute his own original technique – how he knew that, he had no idea, but it wasn't important at this point in time anyway. His eyes snapped open, the pupil slit like a snake's, a ring of poisonous yellow surrounding the pupil and the outer rim of the green eye, and he caught the unfortunate pair of white-robed people – that were about to seriously injure or kill the blond boy – right in his trap.

The two, male and female, froze.

Harry smirked.

"**Hébì Mitsúmerú: Níbàn ni Oítsukù!"** _(Snake Eyes: Second Level!)_

The two healers literally froze in their spots, their skin turned greyish and their eyes blank. Their clothes stopped moving about, as did their hair. The two of them had become human statues.

He cancelled the technique.

The rest of the room had frozen, and Harry could finally take in everything. His eyes fell on the blond boy sitting shocked on the ground, and suddenly his memories came rushing back like a tidal wave. A tidal wave only growing bigger as green eyes flew from person to person in the room, then returning to the blond boy.

"The second Maito Gai enters this room," Harry rasped weakly, "I'm going to silence him permanently."

"HARRY-NII-SAN!" the blond boy exclaimed happily, and threw himself on the bed, his arms wrapping tightly around the man occupying it.

"That hurts brat!" the green-eyed man hissed as Naruto pressed a bit too much on sore spots.

"You're alive, Harry-nii-san." Naruto whispered.

"Of course I am, you aren't getting rid of me that easily."

The commotion by the door was quickly over, with the healers being on the losing side, and the group came over. Kakashi was there along with Sasuke and Sakura. The silver-haired pervert looked extremely relieved, his one uncovered eye watching Harry like a hawk to make sure that everything was alright. Sakura looked relieved as well and put the flower she had brought with her into the vase situated on the bedside table, then threw away the old flower. Sasuke grinned and allowed Harry to pull him into a one-armed hug, seeing as Naruto was taking most of the space, and Harry's other arm wasn't exactly in tip-top shape.

The two human statues and the unconscious healers at the other side of the room were promptly ignored.

"Itachi nearly gave us a heart attack when he brought you back in such a state, Harry." Kakashi ventured finally.

"Hmm, I can imagine that he did." Harry replied. "How long have I been out?"

"Nearly five days." Naruto said, but didn't look up from his place on Harry's abdomen. "They wouldn't allow us to visit you until yesterday, and then only Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei and the other grown-ups."

The black-haired man nodded. "About that, why was there a fight in here when I woke up?"

"They wouldn't allow Naruto in, Harry-san," Sakura told him.

"They would have let Orochimaru himself walk in, but not Naruto!" Sasuke growled. "Bloody bastards."

"Sasuke-kun!"

"What! It's true!"

"Still, you shouldn't talk about people like that!"

"Che!"

Harry raised an eyebrow and shot a look at Kakashi. The other man just smiled under his blue mask, his one visible eyebrow curving happily, and they let it be with that. Kakashi moved closer to the bed where Harry was being squashed by Naruto, and sat down on the chair on the other side of it, now being opposite Sasuke. Whilst Naruto was happily purring and Sasuke and Sakura still arguing, he leaned in closer to Harry and whispered, "What happened to you, Harry-sensei?"

"Too much to be explained here and now," came the reply. "I need to see the Hokage as soon as possible."

Kakashi nodded and let that drop. "We fixed things with Xin Huyang and what reporters were allowed to write about the ANBU. Huyang herself was shocked and terrified that one harmless article could cause such damage, she hasn't written anything since and won't until she sees you – or so she says. Manji-san and Itachi-kun have been able to do your normal duties. Uchiha Fugaku is more pissed off than ever because you were brought back by Itachi when you could've laid out in the woods and died for all he cared. There is a rift growing between him and Itachi-kun, and it's tearing the Uchiha Clan apart."

"It was long in coming, Kakashi," Harry said. "When a group of people grows too large and too strong there will always be fights within it. And heaven knows that the Uchiha have grown too large, even larger than the Hyuuga."

"Well, I am at least happy that the Hyuuga seem to posses some sense," Kakashi muttered. "You know, if it hadn't been for Manji-san we never would've know what was going on in here? The Hokage personally told the hospital that we should be allowed to visit you whenever, but this group of healers went against it saying that you weren't safe because you were Orochimaru's grandson. They were almost treating you like a dangerous animal!"

"Calm down Kakashi, it doesn't matter much right now seeing as I am totally fine." Harry looked down at his bandaged wrist. "I admit that Orochimaru putting the Seal on me was a surprise, but it doesn't matter much. I was there during it's creation, and I know how it works. Therefore I also know exactly how to counter it."

"So you'll be able to remove it?"

"No, but I will be able to turn it to my advantage as soon as I am better." Green eyes flashed triumphantly. "Orochimaru has unknowingly given me the means to his own destruction."

"Well, I hope you know what you are doing, Harry-sensei."

"Trust me, Kakashi." Harry asked of the younger man who nodded.

Their private conversation was over when Sasuke looked at them. "Harry-san, I was wondering what kind of jutsu that was." He nodded towards the two human statues. "I have never heard of it before. Is it one Orochimaru taught you? An Advanced Bloodline?"

"It isn't something Orochimaru taught me," Harry replied. "Nor is it exactly an Advanced Bloodline."

Naruto looked up, but otherwise didn't move from his spot. "Could you teach it to us?"

"I am afraid not, because this technique builds on several aspects, only one of which you can learn." The three kids – even Kakashi – looked slightly disappointed at that answer. Harry continued. "Besides I have just created the damn thing, and I had no idea if it would work at all. Nor do I have any idea on how to un-freeze those to statues, so they will probably stay that way for quite some time."

"I don't mind." Naruto grinned.

"They can stay that way as long as they wish." Sasuke nodded.

Even Sakura agreed. "Definitely!"

Kakashi grinned. "Maa, maa! Easy now, what if we're suddenly attacked and need healers?"

Harry hit the man on the arm. "Don't ruin the moment."

**-x-x-x-x-**

Green eyes snapped open as a sound reached his ears. It was the middle of the night, and Harry had been allowed to get back to his apartment six days prior, but that was all the healers had allowed him. He thought they were still pissed off that two of their ranks were still playing human statues. The vindictive bastards.

The door to the bedroom opened and for the fifth time Naruto stepped through, carrying a pillow and a blanket. As soon as he saw that Harry was awake, the boy crawled into the bed, arranged his blanket and pillow, grabbed a firm hold of Harry's shirt, and snuggled down with his small body pressing as close to Harry's as he could get. The demon vessel had been terrified that the green-eyed man would just up and disappear in the middle of the night, for good this time, and leave him alone. Consequently he had been rather clingy these past few days – but so had the other 'angsters' as well.

"This has got to stop, Naruto," Harry sighed as he poked the brat, and tried to gently push him away. "I am not going to kick the bucket the second you turn away."

Naruto refused to move.

"Let go of my shirt, brat, and go back to your own apartment and bedroom!"

Not even a single muscle twitched.

Knowing that further tries would be just as futile as the first two, Harry simply fell back on the futon with a grumble and continued to mutter about annoying brats, bloody bastards, and anything else that annoyed him. He did this for quite some time before he ran out of things to complain about. This tirade was followed by a long silence, and Harry was on the verge of sleep when Naruto's quiet voice brought him back into the conscious world.

"I love you, Harry-nii-san." The blond whispered and tightened his hold on the older man's shirt.

Harry sighed. He just couldn't win this fight with his emotions! Especially not when Naruto did or said something that melted his heart faster than the speed of the light. He allowed one arm to wrap about the smaller body, and relaxed again.

"I love you too, brat."

**-x-x-x-x-**

It didn't take long before Harry was able to return to his duties – at least not the duties that involved signing papers, going over mission reports before delivering them to the Hokage, issuing missions, issuing pay-checks, etc. It would take approximately another week before he was back in tip-top shape. A week full of paperwork.

Needless to say Harry was very happy when the Sandaime Hokage finally found the time to speak to him, and interrupted the boring routine.

"I hope I find you well, Harry-san?" the old man began and sipped the tea that ha been brought in for the two of them.

"The only danger I am currently in, is danger of being bored to death." Harry replied making the other one smile.

"And the Seal?"

"It will be taken care of as soon as I am well enough and back on duty."

The old man nodded. "Mmhmm…" there was a short silence before the Sandaime continued. "Kakashi said that you had something important to tell me?"

Harry nodded and sighed. "Orochimaru plans to attack during the Chunnin Exam."

"Alone?"

"No, allied with Sand."

"The Kazekage won't allow his village to be used like that."

"He will if he's dead." The green-eyed man pointed out.

"I see…" the old man nodded and sighed heavily. "This will need to be seriously discussed by the two Elders and myself, but there are already two things I will ask of you."

Harry raised an eyebrow and waited.

"Firstly I ask you to teach me the Sealing Jutsu that you and Arashi developed for the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

The younger man nodded. He already had an inkling of why the Hokage wanted to learn that particular technique. Being this old the Sandaime would have very little chance beating Orochimaru in a normal shinobi battle. But even with the Sealing Jutsu he would end up totally dead at the end of it all.

"It's a one-way deal, you know. You can only use it once."

"I know." The Hokage replied.

Harry nodded and let it be with that. If the Sandaime was willing to die for Konoha, then he wouldn't interfere. "And the second thing you wanted to ask me?"

"It is more of an order than a request, Harry-san. I want you to get as far away from here as you can when the Exams approach. Visit the Wand-Shinobi World, hide in a temple, do whatever it takes to stay away from Konoha at that point in time. Thusly you will avoid having to choose a side, and also exposing your role of a spy to Orochimaru."

"Are you sure that is a good idea?"

"Many times in the past I have accepted your council, so for once trust me – trust the Soul of Fire of Konoha – and accept mine."

The two men looked at each other for a long minute, before the younger finally nodded in agreement. "As you wish, Hokage-san."

And with those words the meeting was over.

**-x-x-x-x- **

Harry, Itachi, Manji, Shisui and Iruka stood just outside the gates of Konoha and watched as Team 7 went off on their first C-class mission ever. The entire team had been ecstatic when they received the mission, and not even the gruff manners of the person they were supposed to guard could bring them into depression. Kakashi was happy because he was finally finished with supervising the boring D-class missions all gennin received – although it always ended up in one disaster or another. And the three pre-teens were overjoyed at being finally given a C-class mission. _C-class_!

"I get it, you are the backup!" the old man called Tazuna had cried when he spotted the group of shinobi by the gates. "I won't be stuck with a bunch of kids! Bless the gods!" he laughed happily and none of the shinobi there missed the relieved tone to his voice. Needless to say the man was crushed when he discovered that they were simply the farewell-committee.

"So that is the infamous Tazuna." Manji muttered as he watched the quartet in the distance. "I didn't think that the Master Bridge Builder would be so old – or act like such an idiot."

"Isn't he from Wave Country?" Itachi asked.

Harry nodded. "Yep."

"The same country that is under that Gato's control?"

"The very same." Manji replied this time.

Itachi blinked, then growled, "So why the hell did we just send a gennin-team on what is clearly a B-class, perhaps even A-class mission?"

"Because the Wave is a poor country and couldn't pay for a B-class or A-class classification."

Shisui and Iruka just stood there with wide eyes as the three ANBU discussed the current dangers currently surrounding the Wave Country, until finally Iruka couldn't help but ask why the Wave hadn't gone to the Hidden Village of Mist if it was closer. It would be cheaper for one thing, and for another it wouldn't take so much time to get there and back again.

"I'm wondering about that one myself," Manji agreed.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "Because the Demon of the Mist – Momochi Zabuza – has been seen in that direction." He spoke slowly as if to a child.

Now the entire group was wide-eyed and nearly gaping.

"And… and Kakashi-san knows about this… right?" Shisui ventured hesitantly.

"Nope, that's all ANBU-classified information, and he isn't ANBU anymore." The green-eyed man grinned at the looks of alarm all around him. "Don't worry, I am heading out on a patrol of the Fire Country border. I'll check up on the brats if I have the time."

"I'll come with you!" Itachi growled. "There is no way I am letting my little brother be in the same vicinity as the Demon of the Mist."

"I'll come as well." Manji agreed. "Chihiro wanted some tea that can only be bought in the Water Country."

Iruka sighed. "I assume I'll be stuck with the paperwork that comes with you two leaving without permission, huh?"

Shisui patted him on the shoulder. "I'll bring you food… occasionally… if I don't forget… yeah…"

Harry, Manji and Itachi laughed upon seeing Iruka's defeated look, and soon the three of them were completely gone from the senses of both Shisui and Iruka.

"Well, time to get back to work." Iruka muttered and Shisui sighed.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Harry and Itachi continued to travel through the trees throughout the night. Manji had been forced to turn back when the trio had stumbled over the unconscious forms of the Demon Brothers. He had gotten a firm promise out of both Harry and Itachi to buy some tea for his beloved wife, before he had taken the two missing-nins – one on each shoulder – and had turned back towards Konoha.

"Are we going to stop soon, Ookami-sensei?" Itachi asked as he hid a yawn behind his mask.

"Soon, Itachi." Harry replied absentmindedly. He wasn't really focused on his companion, but rather on the trickle of magic with a very familiar signature. His green eyes flashed as he neared the source of the magic, and he slowed down and hid between the branches high up in a tree.

Itachi soon landed beside him, wide awake and with his Sharingan fully activated. "Who are they, Ookami-sensei?" he nodded towards the two figured in the clearing beneath them. Both were sitting around a small, blue fire that didn't emit any smoke nor did it need any wood to burn. The blue fire glittered off of black and silver-blond hair. "Ookami-sensei?" the Uchiha repeated when the other didn't answer him.

"Old acquaintances." Came the growled reply. "Wait here Itachi, I'm going down there."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Trust me, this is a meeting which I have long been hoping for." The older man said and disappeared without a sound, and Itachi could only shrug and turn his sight back on the duo in the clearing, and watch the following show.

Harry landed soundlessly behind a thick group of trees, then made his way towards the two wizards on foot. He was mindful of any traps that might've been put up, and quickly disarmed them whenever he encountered one. Soon he was standing just behind the duo, and now he sprung out form his hiding place. Less than a second later he stood with a kunai pressed against the throats of the two wizards both of whom had stiffened up in surprise.

The person with black hair slowly turned his head as much as he could, and black eyes met green ones hidden behind a wolf-shaped ANBU mask.

"-You should never allow your enemy to get behind you, Severus Snape.-" Harry hissed hatefully.

**-x-x-x-x-  
**

That's it for now. I know this chapter may seem very weird in places, but I've been dead tired this entire week and it was also a damn hard chapter to write as well, so please excuse it all. And once again I ask that anyone who speaks Japanese better than me, please help me with translating the jutsu in this chapter correctly. Thanks.

As for Orochimaru's seal, well, it gives chakra to the person with the seal, and it makes them stronger and faster (at the first level). At the second level it turns the person demon-like with yellow eyes and black-ish grey skin, and gives them even more chakra, strength and speed. I don't know if it has a third level, but I should suppose it does. Kakashi's seal which he puts on Sasuke (in the anime), kind of locks up Orochimaru's seal and kind of slows down the corruption of the person with the seal – that's how I see it. As for Tonks and her role as Tayuya. All I am willing to say is that I have at least that plotted out.

It was a clear number in favour of Kimimaro living to see another day (to put it that way), and that's how it's going to be. And there is a reason why Harry doesn't fight back when Orochimaru decides to beat the crap out of him. It'll all be clear soon enough.

There are no pairings so far, and I don't think there'll ever be one – at least not with Harry. Other pairings however…

Thanks to:

Dragon Fairies, FireAngel8723, SensiblyTainted, E.A.V, Falling Right Side-Up, marina, kathy, Fattyaddy-99, Shadow Crystal Mage, Nocena T. Calamus, cheerful-pinkstar, DarkWolfHuntress, firelid, gahtzuah, cat, Morrolan, Saetan, scythe195, Ran Hoshino, Kagome13Chan, Geminia, VB, arsenic-graffiti, Gato-sama, Anave Lipad, Sarah R Potter, candidus-lupus-full Moon, YamaiTsuki, magerm, Vamps Witches and Weres, polabear, Wraith, braindead, dark672, hercat, RBMIfan, Angranse, tessa3, Really Bad Fanfiction, darkgabman, Wraith, HarrySlytherinson, Sweetest Thang, shadow tintinnabulation, GEVFUAN and sakura.


	13. Chapter 13

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Hmm, whilst not one of my longest chapters when it comes to length, it is one of the chapters which I have had planned since I even seriously thought of starting this story, so you'll just have to bear with it. Otherwise enjoy!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

'_Now go forgive and forget it all,  
__Before you fill with hate just like me, yeah!  
__Now go forgive and forget it all,  
__It's the only way out that I see.'  
_**"Forgive & Forget" by Harem Scarem**

"-You should never allow your enemy to get behind you, Severus Snape.-" Harry hissed, his kunai biting into the skin of the traitor's neck, a small trickle of blood seeping out, down the pale skin, and into the dark robes.

Snape sat still as a statue, his breathing visibly controlled, and the only thing on his body that was moving were his eyes. The black depths glittered in the blue light from the bluebell flames, and narrowed dangerously as he gazed at his captor. "-Who are you?-"

Harry smirked behind his mask. "-Have I changed that much, Professor, that you aren't able to recognise me?-"

Snape still didn't seem to understand, but his mind was clearly running through past acquaintances – both Death Eaters and Hogwarts students.

"-Still haven't figured it out? And you're supposed to be a Slytherin.-" The kunai retreated a bit, but was still ready for use. "-Let me help you out then, Snape- no, _Snivellus_!-"

"-Potter!-" Snape's voice was incredulous, but he was soon master of his emotions again and sneered. "-I should have known you'd be here.-"

"-Should you have?-" Harry wondered in a mocking tone.

"-As a Gryffindor I would have thought you to be on the front lines defending the wizarding world, but instead you're here, far away from it all, hiding like a coward.-"

Had Harry been younger and back in school, he would have thrown a fit. But he was now both older and wiser (hopefully), and he just smirked at Snape's pathetic tries to rile him up. "-That won't work anymore, Snape, I have grown up. However, it seems as though you are still stuck in the past, which is down right pathetic.-"

The Potion's Master sneered. "-Indeed. Although you have grown up, Potter, you still haven't realised that I am anything but a Gryffindor!-" with that he drew a small dagger, and swung behind himself hoping to plunge it deep into Harry's guts.

Harry was out of the way and on the other side of the clearing even before Snape had finished drawing the dagger. He sent an ANBU hand-sign to Itachi to keep out of the way until called for, then turned back to watch what the black-haired, hook-nosed man would do next.

"-_Avada Kedavra_!-" Snape wasted no time in shouting as he finally drew his wand.

"-Too slow.-" Harry said to himself and disappeared from his spot, only to appear directly behind the other man. "-Far too slow.-" he repeated into the Snape's ear, a smirk dancing about his lips. Snape whirled, another curse already on his tongue, but Harry simply grabbed the man's wrist and held it there with a frightening ease. He grabbed the hand with the dagger as well, and smirked. "-What will you do now, Professor?-"

Snape didn't need much time to deliberate on his next move. His eyes turned into black tunnels, and Harry instantly felt the man break through his occlumency shield. It was only a long practice of keeping the most important things in the middle of the landscape of his mind, surrounded by a sea of trivial things swirling around like a twister, and only his next actions were at the forefront and easy to access. It wasn't a foolproof defence – especially not against a Master Legilimens – but when one knew of Harry's speed, then one knew that the person attacking Harry mentally wouldn't have much time to search through anything.

It is exactly what happened here in this case. Snape entered, and skimmed the outer rims of the 'twister'. He knew exactly what the green-eyed man was going to do next – and he had a vivid idea of exactly how Harry wanted to torture him afterwards – but he simply didn't have the required speed or strength to act accordingly. Therefore Harry simply planted an open palm on Snape's chest and pushed. Snape flew backwards several feet and rolled on the ground a couple of times, before his momentum was kindly stopped by a tree with large, gnarled roots.

'_And I didn't even push with my entire strength.'_ Harry mused. _'Wizards are pathetic.'_ He stalked towards the groaning figure on the ground. "-There are two reasons why you won't win this duel, Snivellus. One: you are getting far too old. You're what? 60-something-or-other by now. And two: my speed and strength are far superior to your own.-"

"-_Cruci_-!-" Snape began, but was cut off by Harry who grabbed his neck, and roughly pushed him without mercy against the tree.

"-You killed Albus Dumbledore,-" Harry said calmly, almost kindly. The Potion Master's eyes widened slightly in surprise at that. "-You killed one of the greatest wizards of all time, one of the kindest of men, and one of the hopes of the wizarding world. You killed the man so many people considered as a grandfather. But most of all, you killed my dear mentor! Now tell me, traitor, why shouldn't I kill you?-"

Snape chocked and eyed the kunai Harry held up, the sharp point placed right underneath one black eye, the steel glittering coldly in the blue firelight. "-…-"

"-No answer? Alright then.-" Harry pushed the tip of the knife into the skin of Snape's shallow cheek, a trail of blood quickly inching its way down the sharp steel.

The Potion's Master knew that he was going to die tonight if something didn't happen to divert Potter's attention from him. He had no chance against the young man in a duel, he knew that now. Not only was Potter far superior in physical strength, but his speed was even greater, and Snape had no hope of ever matching that – not even with the help of a spell, a potion, or even apparating, the latter thing being common in wizarding duels. But, amazingly enough, just as Snape seriously started to get nervous about having a kunai shoved through his eye and into his brain, something did happen, and it grabbed a hold of Potter's deadly gaze.

"-Daddy, wha's goin' on?-" a child's voice wondered innocently.

Harry stayed his hand and turned his head towards the sound. Draco Malfoy sat there by the fire, watching them curiously with surprisingly innocent and open eyes. The former Slytherin wasn't sitting in a dignified manner as he had always done at Hogwarts, not even in a haughty one. No, he was sitting in a position with both his legs stretched out in a 'v', his eyes seemed so much bigger and glittered in a manner only a child could produce.

"Itachi, take over here." The green-eyed man called, and let Snape go as he moved towards his school nemesis.

Before Snape could even think about escaping or attacking, he was once again slammed up against the tree – this time by the weasel-masked Itachi. Itachi glared at the greasy-haired man who was bringing such internal conflict to Harry-sensei. Oh, a normal shinobi wouldn't even notice the fact that Harry was disturbed, but Itachi had known the green-eyed man for so long that he knew how to read him perfectly. Therefore he used more force than necessary as he held the robed man against the tree. Itachi was going to protect the green-eyed man just like Harry had done numerous times before for himself, and even if this threat wasn't the greatest in a physical sense, it could be very dangerous when it came to the mental aspect of things.

"-Potter, don't you even _dare_-!-" Snape's order trailed off into a hiss of pain courtesy of the Uchiha.

Harry ignored the commotion behind him and continued towards Malfoy, his green eyes asserting, weighing, gathering information, and his brain analysing it all. Malfoy himself was watching his approach with a child's open curiosity, completely trusting and unafraid of the ANBU Squadron Commander that approached. Harry raised an eyebrow behind his mask, then slowly sat down on his hunches, let one knee rest of the ground, and raised his wolf-shaped ANBU mask. He let it rest on his forehead, then he just continued staring at the silvery-blond man sitting in front of him.

Malfoy stared back, then suddenly giggled and clapped his hands excitedly together. "-Me wanna try!-" he exclaimed and stretched out his hands childishly towards Harry and the red-and-white mask.

Allowing the blond to grab the mask – an action he was used to because of Naruto – Harry just continued to observe as the man, no, _boy_ commenced playing like a four-year-old with the thing. His thoughts were running a mile a minute. This new development was certainly interesting in its own way. Malfoy clearly wasn't faking his childishness, which meant that Snape and he weren't here on orders from Voldemort. The Dark Lord wouldn't have allowed the blond to stay as a Death Eater with the way he was acting, and Harry doubted that Mrs Malfoy was willing to take care of a grown man acting as a child. This led to the conclusion that Draco Malfoy had been denounced as the heir of the family, and that he was disgraced and even poorer than the Weasley's which he had teased so in his school days. But why was the blond acting like this? What had forced him to react and return to his childhood – which was probably better now as a grown up man than it had ever been as a real child. What had happened?

'_He could have been exposed to the Cruciatus for enormous lengths of time because he didn't manage to kill Dumbledore himself, and instead forced Snape to do it which revealed the traitor as a spy. Riddle wouldn't have been too happy about that, even if it was the end of the Headmaster. So why did Snape risk the wrath of not only the Light Side, but also Voldemort, only to keep Malfoy junior from killing – an act which he was sure to do later on in his career as a Death Eater.'_ Harry wondered as he watched the childish blond amuse himself with the ANBU mask. _'As far as I can see there is only one explanation to all this, but I cannot be sure. Yet…'_

Snape was snarling and sneering and struggling against Itachi's hold on him, his movements not unlike a snake's, slippery, sly, and always with a deeper meaning behind them. However, Itachi _was_ a Konoha ANBU Captain, and he had been trained personally by Harry himself, therefore he easily blocked any and all tries the Potion's Master made to get away.

Itachi desperately tried to ignore the hook-nosed man's tries, and tried to focus on Harry-sensei who was just sitting there in front of the literally childish man. In the end, however, he got so annoyed that he threw Snape face-first to the ground, yanked the man's arms behind his back, tied the wrists together and promptly sat on him to keep the man from getting away. His own thoughts were mirroring Harry's own in running around at the speed of light, but he was more focused on exactly why the green-eyed man was acting this way.

'_Who are these people exactly?'_ the Uchiha wondered as he absentmindedly pushed Snape's head further into the ground with his foot to block out the snarling and bitching. _'I know very few words of the language they spoke – Eng-lish, or whatever – but I know enough to understand that this man-'_ he gave an extra push with his foot, _'-this man killed a man named Al-bas Dumb-le-door, a man Harry-sensei considered as his mentor.'_ One thought led to another and finally Itachi remembered something Hyuuga Manji had once told him and Kakashi. It was a name, the name of the person which Harry hated the more than even Orochimaru. The name of the man who had – indirectly – led to Harry falling into Orochimaru's hands in the first place. The name Severus Snape.

'_Ah, so this is the famed man who brought Harry-sensei so much trouble!'_ Itachi's eyes changed into sharingan-form as he glared at Snape's head underneath his foot. He ignored the growling and cursing coming from the man, and didn't even move a muscle. _'It'd serve him good if he chocked on all that dirt. He'd fit right in with it.'_

Harry had by this time conjured up a couple of butterflies with his wand, and took his ANBU mask back whilst Malfoy amused himself with the sparkling creatures fluttering around him. Harry then stood up again, he was about to make the most difficult decision of his life and he hoped that everyone involved – alive or dead – would accept his choice. He turned towards Snape, only to raise an amused eyebrow at the situation. Itachi was glaring daggers at Snape who was trying to not choke on dirt. _'Well, you don't see that every day. Oh, if only Neville were here now.'_

"You can let him go, Itachi."

"Huh? Ookami-sensei?" Itachi asked in surprise.

"Let him up and untie him. He is no danger to any of us." Harry watched as the younger man followed his directions, then waited until Snape looked up at him before he started speaking again. "-It was an Unbreakable Vow which led to all of this, wasn't it, Snape? One to Mrs Malfoy, if I am correct. And her badly and carelessly _worded_ Unbreakable Vow led to Draco Malfoy turning mentally into a child, upon which happening she didn't want him as a heir anymore. No one wanted to know of him, and you had to protect him for if he dies, then so do you. Oh Snape, how the mighty have fallen.-"

Snape knew that he was caught and simply nodded to it all. He was still rubbing his wrists, thin red stripes indicating where the steel wire had been tied tightly around them. He glared at the weasel-masked ninja, and had the distinct feeling that the man was glaring right back, but he couldn't be sure because the eye-slits on the mask were to narrow to see through at this distance. Instead he turned back to Potter, and opened his mouth to speak.

"-No, don't,-" Harry cut him off and shook his head. "-You have nothing to say which I want to ever hear, so keep it to yourself.-"

The Potion's Master watched the green-eyed man. What was going to happen next?

"Ookami-sense?" Itachi's voice broke Harry out of his thoughts. "What are we going to do to them?" the Uchiha indicated towards both Snape and Malfoy.

Taking a deep breath Harry did the one thing none of them had expected. "We're letting them go, Itachi."

"_What_?" if it hadn't been for his mask, Itachi's jaw would have landed on the ground.

Not giving the younger man time to gather his wits, Harry turned to Snape. "-Heaven help me, but I can't do anything to you now knowing what has befallen you. Like Merlin you planted the seed to your own destruction.-"

"-So what are you going to do to us, Potter?-"

"-I'm going to let you go,-" the green-eyed man replied and pulled his mask down over his face. "-Go northwards through Waterfall Country and Tea Country until you reach the Northern Sea. There find a village called Hokkái, and there a ship named _Yuki no Sakura_. Tell the skipper that I sent you, and he will bring you across the sea to the Snow Country. From there on make your own way through life, and stay far away from me and mine.-"

Snape was almost gaping in surprise, astonishment and disbelief. "-Potter…-"

"-Go!-" Harry ordered, fairly snarled, his fists shaking in restraint. "-Go before I change my mind and kill you both here! Kami-sama knows you'd both deserve it!-" he turned and, with a nod to Itachi, started to disappear between the trees.

Itachi glared at Snape, and managed to say in broken and accented English, "-You away stay. I here you see, I…-" as it was clear that he didn't know the correct word, he simply gestured with his hands across his neck, a gesture that no one could misplace, "-you.-" With that the Uchiha jumped into the trees and disappeared.

Harry was just starting to melt into the darkness surrounding him, and was getting ready to join his companion high above him, when Snape's voice stopped his progress, and he listened.

"-Potter!-" the man called. "-The Snake's Sword.-"

Harry waited.

"-The Dark Lord mentioned it more than once, told his Death Eaters to find it and bring it to him no matter what. It is apparently located here on this continent somewhere. That's all I know.-" Snape turned back towards his mentally reserved charge, and finally admitted to himself that perhaps – just perhaps – he had been wrong about Potter. Loathe as he was to admit it, he had been wrong about the boy.

By now Harry was travelling through the trees with Itachi, continuing on their way around the borders of the Fire Country. Both were silent for a while before Itachi broke the silence.

"Harry-sensei, what happened back there. Why did you let them go? After all that man has put you through?"

The green-eyed man smiled shakily behind his mask. "I was reminded of something…"

"Of what?"

"Of you. Of all my little 'angsters', and I just couldn't do it. Gods above Itachi, I've dreamed about this day for so long and when it finally comes I couldn't do it. It's one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make in my entire life!" He sighed. "The fact that we have hearts is the best and the worst thing that has ever happened to the human race." Speeding up, he was soon a few yards ahead of his companion. He needed peace to think and he knew that Itachi would understand.

Itachi did understand, and he allowed the other man his peace. He was quite frankly awed at just how strong Harry had really proven to be, being able to let Snape get away – even _helping_ him – when all he really wanted was to kill the traitor for his deeds. Itachi didn't know if he'd be able to do the same if he were in the same situation. Heck, he'd probably kill first and ask questions later.

He sighed, but couldn't help a slight smile. Ever since he had gotten to know Harry, he had always strived to reach to the other man's level – both physically and mentally. He had gotten close when he had been promoted to ANBU, and he had gotten even closer when he had been made a captain. He had been so sure that he had finally caught up to his green-eyed role model! And yet, in one single evening and in less than an hour, Harry had once again seemed to be miles ahead of Itachi without even seeming to try, and Itachi once again felt as if he was… well… _inferior_ to the other man, not worthy of his loyalty and friendship. There was still such an enormous gap of skill between them! It also made him realise that although he had experienced much in his 18 years as shinobi, he was still a youngling compared to most of the others belonging to the 'angster' group.

'_I swear I will get better, Harry-sensei. And then you will be proud of me, and proudly call me your friend and comrade.'_

-x-x-x-x-

There, done! A one-event-chapter, but I thought it a fitting place to end.

The rest of the HP-cast will show up soon enough, some of them next chapter even I believe, and others when Harry goes back to the wizarding world under the Chunnin Exams. And no, Harry will not become an animagus. There's got to be some things that even he can't do, and it brings up the suspense… I think… something like that… yeah…

Hmm, as most of you wanted Haku to live, I will oblige to your wishes and do just that. I think he'll appear in the next two chapters or something, probably the next chapter.

Thanks to:

Surrarin, The Insane Imortal Dragon, firmin, Winter's Touch, FireAngel8723, BasicalluAnIdiot, Tokyo no Ecchi, Shika, Shadow Crystal Mage, Angranse, magerm, arsenic-graffiti, Fattyaddy-99, Morrolan, SensiblyTainted, Sarah R Potter, hittocerebattosai, Lyfe.exe, Ran Hoshino, Shadowed Rains, braindead, Lucifer's Following, Tombadgerlock, E.A.V, dark672, anime-rulez3, di-sama, VB, DemonicPride, cheerful-pinkstar, Lachwen, Monks and Salim271 and ClassicDrogn.


	14. Chapter 14

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Long chapter ahead, mates. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Fourteen:**

Manji caught up with Harry and Itachi three days after the run in with Snape. He also brought a message from a rather unhappy Hokage, and the message was – quote – that as soon as Manji and Itachi got their arses back they would be put on boring guard duty and (even worse) paperwork duty until the next payday. And since the last payday was just the day before they left Konoha, that was going to be quite a long time.

"I can understand why he wasn't happy," Itachi said. "I wouldn't be happy either if two of my minions up and went without my permission."

"You don't have any minions," Harry pointed out. "Only the people who want to take over the world have minions, and you aren't trying to do that."

"Well, sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have minions-"

"Why? You have all those fan-girls back home that you can order around." Manji said.

"-be feared all over the Shinobi Continent," Itachi continued as if he hadn't heard the Hyuuga.

"You're already feared! You have an entire _two_ pages devoted to you in the Shinobi Bingo Book!" Harry told him.

"Yes, and you have five pages, Harry-sensei. Anyways, I just wonder what it would be like, it's not as if I'm going to suddenly turn around and join the Akatsuki!"

"I should hope not," Manji grumbled. "Sasuke would hate you, Orochimaru would probably fear you, and you wouldn't be a member of the Angsters Anonymous!"

The young Uchiha laughed. "A terrible fate indeed!"

-x-x-x-x-

When they made camp that night, and Harry was out scouting, Itachi told Manji about the meeting with Snape and Malfoy.

"Harry really let him go!" Manji was impressed.

Itachi nodded. "I was just as shocked as you are, but it shows just how strong Ookami-sensei really is."

"That's our Harry, alright," Manji agreed warmly after a short silence. "And talk about the devil!" he added as Harry himself appeared upside-down on a branch above their heads. His entire body was taut and spoke of a restlessness rarely seen in him.

"Is something wrong?" Itachi asked at once.

"I don't know," Harry lied. He _knew_ something was wrong. Hermione should have contacted him yesterday with a report about the black market dealings and Ernie Macmillan's connection to those, but she hadn't and although she had relaxed slightly since their schooldays, she would never miss an appointed time by more than an hour at the most.

The Hyuuga stood up. "You want to get moving?" he stated more than asked and started to put out the fire.

"You sure you wouldn't mind?" the green-eyed ANBU asked to be sure. "It probably won't delay us more than a day, but with the Hokage so displeased with you two running away…"

"Of course we don't mind," Itachi replied and started covering their tracks. "Your sixth sense has never led us wrong before."

Harry smiled under his mask. "Thank you."

The three of them travelled throughout the night, and the next day, and it didn't take long for Manji and Itachi to recognize in exactly which direction they were headed. There was only one town ahead of them which held any interest of Harry, and there was only one person in that town whom they would want to visit.

"Is something wrong with Hermione-san?" Manji wondered. He and Chihiro had been introduced to Hermione Granger a few years ago when Harry had brought her along to help with the wedding preparations. Nine of the Hyuuga's had been eager to help, and Hermione had hit it off at once with Chihiro. Since then the two women had been excellent friends, and Hermione had also been introduced to the entire Angster group on the occasions she visited.

"Ookami-sense? Is there something wrong with Granger-san?" Itachi repeated Manji's question when it became clear that Harry wasn't answering.

"I don't know, but I'm going to check just in case," Harry replied and sped up again. It wasn't far now before they reached the town, and he pulled ahead of the other two. _'For once let me be wrong and paranoid. For once let Hermione have forgotten something.'_ He prayed in his mind.

The three ANBU simply jumped over the walls around the town, and silently as shadows they travelled across the rooftops only rarely being forced to go down on ground level before taking off again. They quickly reached Hermione's little shop. The windows were dark with the curtains pulled across, the doors were locked, and nothing at all pointed to anything being wrong.

"Why did we stop so far away?" Itachi asked. The traps they could expect to run into wouldn't be placed a block away, but closer to their target because firstly there wasn't much room to work with, and secondly none of their enemies would want the traps to be triggered by normal civilians who would then send a message to Konoha, and Konoha would then in turn send ANBU who knew what to expect.

"Dunno," Manji shrugged. "Harry?" he redirected his focus.

"Use your byakugan. What do you see?" Harry ordered and pointed in the direction towards Hermione's shop.

The Hyuuga did as ordered, and was silent for a few minutes before he explained what he saw. "I see no distinctive traps, but there are dots of chakra all over the place. I assume those are Wand-Shinobi traps?"

Harry nodded. "And they activate only when someone who carries a wand passes, so both you and Itachi could have passed with minor injuries. But if I tried to pass then the entire thing would have been activated, spells would be flying left and right and if I weren't fast enough I would end up dead as a doornail."

"How did you know where to stop?" Itachi asked curiously. "Can you see the traps?"

"Of course not. I simply noted that Hermione's usual wards are not in effect."

"What are you talking about? The wards are still working as far as I can sense."

"The wards are up, yes, but those are not Hermione's wards."

Manji sighed. "Don't ask anymore about it, Itachi. You know that Harry's perceptiveness of the differences in peoples chakra far surpasses anyone else's – even the Sandaime's," the Hyuuga sat down on a crate. "So, how do you suppose we got through that?" he nodded towards the invisible minefield of magical traps.

"I will get us through," Harry said and started rotating his wrists to warm them up, the pulled out his rarely-used wand. "It's about time I brushed up on my Wand-Shinobi techniques anyway."

Manji suddenly looked eager. "Oh, now this is going to be quite a show!"

Itachi looked slightly confused. He knew that Harry was an excellent dueller, he'd seen the green-eyed man fight against those so-called Death Eaters, and he had been taught some of the techniques that had been transferred into hand-seals, but he never was sure just how good the other man was. He decided that this would be the perfect moment to find out, and sat down beside Manji to watch the show.

Harry removed his ANBU mask to have full use of his sight, made sure that nothing would get in his way – i.e. clothes and weapons – and took a deep breath, preparing for the task ahead. He would have to move at top speed to manage this, some apparating would probably be needed as well, and still he wasn't expecting to get away without receiving at least some injuries. The fact that Ernie might be the one behind all of this didn't make him rule out the possibility that someone else, someone more suited to it, put up the trap field, and he didn't let his guard down just because the suspect was a Hufflepuff. Peter Pettigrew had proven that just because someone came from a certain House, it didn't mean they followed the stereotypes of that House.

Taking yet another deep breath, Harry tensed his muscles then ran straight into it.

The Hyuuga and the Uchiha ooh-ed and aw-ed as they watched their green-eyed comrade move to and fro, up and down, sideways, and all over the place as he avoided oncoming spells, curses, hexes and charms. Potion vials exploded and sent their contents spraying all over, the ground cracked and shook, some things melted when they were hit, others exploded into smithereens and there seemed to be no end to it all. However, through the storm of spells and dust Manji and Itachi could see Harry right in the middle of it all, a great grin on his face, his green eyes glowing brightly in excitement. He hadn't been this challenged in ages, and he revelled in it.

"Wow!" Itachi muttered once it calmed down and then finally stopped. "Now I realise why Harry never uses his Wand-Shinobi techniques when we're practicing at the ANBU grounds. None of us would stand a chance against him!"

Manji just simply nodded with a grin. "It's always entertaining to watch something like this."

Harry himself was standing there in the middle of the street, panting and hands resting on his knees, a bead of sweat running down his temple. He had a small cut right underneath his left eye – that had been a close one! – and his uniform was ripped and stained with blotches of blood, but none of his wounds were in any way dangerous. On top of it all he was still grinning happily, and took a minute in the feelings of a worthy challenge. However, soon he put himself together, and the three of them walked to Hermione's shop – occasionally avoiding a trap that hadn't been activated yet – and then Itachi quickly picked the lock on the door, before the trio went inside.

The first thing they noticed was the unnaturally cold that seemed to penetrate the very walls, and Harry recognized it at once as the traces the dementors left in their wake. He cursed at once and went through the house like a whirlwind of activity. He found what he was looking for on Hermione's desk, a letter bearing his name and lying right atop the papers that contained the information Hermione had been able to dig up about the black market and those involved.

He read the letter – which was written in English – whilst Itachi and Manji kept guard.

'_-Harry Potter_

_If you got safely through the traps I've put up outside – something I must admit that I doubt – then this will be rather pointless, but I shall write it nevertheless. _

_The situation is as follows:_

_I have your precious Hermione Granger and Team Seven in custody. What happens to them all depends on what you decide to do. You can ignore this letter, and my dementors will get a nice meal out of the souls. However, if you follow my instructions, I will let them all go only slightly worse for wear. Although a method to capture and contain dementors and their effects has been found, it can't be controlled completely…_

_Now, as for my orders to you. You will stop this tomfoolery with these savages, these second-hand wizards calling themselves shinobi, and come back to the Wizarding World where you belong. Here you will take care of Voldemort, and then you can do whatever you want. The orders are simple, the choice is yours. I shall wait for you on the edge of the borders to the Wind Country, and those in my custody will be here as well awaiting for your decision. Will they be set free? Will they be given the Kiss? If I even suspect of you of bringing backup with you, then the deal is off and your precious brats all will die._

_I hope to see you soon._

_Ernie Macmillan._

_PS: Naruto sure has grown since I saw him last, hasn't he?-'_

'_I am going to kill him.'_ Harry growled and crumbled the letter in his fist. But Ernie seemed to have forgotten two very important things: there was a reason that Voldemort feared Harry Potter above all others in the world, and there was a reason Harry had survived for so long amongst these 'savages' as the Hufflepuff called them. With these two things combined, not even the fact that Ernie currently had the upper hand would be very helpful once Harry finally caught up with him. _No one_ hurt Harry's family without signing their own death sentence in the process.

"Harry, what did the letter say?" Manji asked in a wary tone. Only very few times before had he seen his best friend in such a state, and it never bode well for anyone.

"Harry?" Itachi put a hand on the other's shoulder, just above the ANBU Squadron Captain tattoo.

"We have work to do." Harry simply said and shot out the window, quickly followed by the other two. Both Manji and Itachi knew the voice he had used, and they knew that this was no longer their friend but rather their leader ordering them to follow him, and they both obeyed at once.

-x-x-x-x-

It took them another 72 hours before they reached the border to the Wind Country and the most likely place where Ernie Macmillan would be waiting for them. Harry had explained the contents of the letter to the other two, and both the Hyuuga and the Uchiha were thoroughly pissed off. Ernie really had signed his own death sentence in angering not only Harry, but also the two most powerful clans of Konoha.

"You two head off to the village to the west of here," Harry ordered. "Another one of my agents is stationed there, his name is Podmore Sturgis. Tell him we need as much chocolate as possible."

"Chocolate?"

"To counter the effects of the dementors."

"You aren't going to give yourself up, are you, Harry?" Itachi demanded.

Harry snorted. "Of course not, but we're going to need it nevertheless. Once you have the chocolate, then come as soon as you can, but keep out of the way until I give the sign."

"Hai!" Manji and Itachi snapped together with military precision, and disappeared through the trees whilst Harry continued on his own.

Five minutes later Harry felt the first effects of the dementors and slowed down. Somewhere ahead of him was Ernie Macmillan, and he needed to be careful from now on. He couldn't sneak up on the guy, he couldn't make any sudden moves, he needed to announce his arrival, so many things he couldn't do, and it only hammered home the fact that Ernie had the upper hand. He also needed to think of how to deal with the dementors. Ernie had written that he had ways to contain the creatures and their effects, but Harry knew that these methods were still not public knowledge. The Unspeakables had been working on it for years in secret – and Harry only knew because of Moody – so how the Hufflepuff knew about it he had no idea.

'_I don't like this situation,'_ Harry thought to himself as he dropped onto the road and started walking. He shuddered as the effects of the dementors got stronger and stronger, but he didn't stop and finally – after a bend in the road – he saw Ernie Macmillan up ahead. The former Hufflepuff was standing beside a cart which was pulled along by a thestral, and the cart itself was covered by a large piece of dark cloth, but there were no dementors in sight. Neither could he see Hermione or Team Seven, but there was a tent nearby and a small bonfire was still burning merrily underneath a pot which probably contained tea.

Ernie looked up and spotted him, and smirked in triumph. "-So, you finally came.-"

Harry stopped several yards away from the Hufflepuff, and pulled off his ANBU mask. "-You didn't give me a chance to refuse, Macmillan.-" He replied, neither his voice nor his face giving away any of his feelings.

"-Yes, well, we can't all be saints you know.-" Ernie mentioned towards the bonfire. "-Tea?-"

"-I'd rather drink poison.-"

"-To each his own, I suppose. Really, Harry, living for so long with these savages has nearly turned you into one of them.-" The blond man shrugged. "-What do you say we get down to business, hmmm? Now, I assume that since you're here you won't give up your friends lives, and that probably means that you will be coming back with me to the Wizarding World?-"

"-I want to see them first,-" Harry demanded. He had decided that it was safest to play along with Macmillan for now.

"-Of course, of course, I didn't expect anything else from you.-" Ernie smiled as if they were good, ol' chums and waved his wand. The cloth which had covered the cart fell away and revealed the contents. It had been covering a large cage rather like the ones use in the circus, and the bars of the cage were glowing oddly indicating that the dementors were trapped in the metal. The cage was occupied by six people of varying ages, all of them desperately huddled together in the middle and as far away from the bars as they could get. Harry could recognise Kakashi's silver hair anywhere, and Naruto's blond strands stood out just as much. He also saw a lock of Sakura's pink hair, and there were two heads of black. He also saw Hermione's bushy mane in there somewhere, otherwise it was almost impossible to figure out who was who and what person began where.

The six prisoners were unconscious, and a few bare, pale limbs indicated that they had been under the dementors effects for a couple of days already.

"-Satisfied?-"

Harry simply nodded with a noncommittal hmm-sound.

"-Excellent!-" the former Hufflepuff grinned in triumph that his plan was going so incredibly well. "-Now, we've delayed here long enough – I expected you two days ago, you see – and we need to get moving. The Wizarding World is eagerly waiting for your return, you know. So, please be kind enough to hold out your hands, I will have to bind them with these magic- and strength-suppressing shackles. I'm afraid that I don't quite trust your word yet!-" Ernie smiled his I'm-totally-harmless smile, the smile which had fooled more than one person.

Harry held out his hands calmly, and watched as a quick incantation later thick shackles snapped into place around his wrists. They were connected by a chain, and another chain went from the shackles and straight to Ernie's outstretched hand.

"-Wonderful!-" Ernie was giddy with the taste of triumph. He could just see himself hailed as the hero who had pulled _the_ Harry Potter from the brink of insanity, and who had save the Boy Who Lived from becoming a total savage. The papers would write up story after story about him, the girls would go wild, and the Minister would probably give him an Order of Merlin! And once Harry was away from this barbaric lands and influence, he would thank Ernie as well for saving him, Ernie was sure of it. He raised his wand and started to chant the incantation to open up the cage, for even though he was a lead figure at the black market, he was still a Hufflepuff and he still contained some of the things which had put him there in the first place, and one of those was – surprisingly enough – naivety.

The second Ernie started chanting his spell, Harry started his own. It was a technique he had been working on for quite some time, it was a deadly technique if not performed correctly, and it hurt as hell, but at this point he had no choice. He did the required hand-seals in his mind's eye to keep rustling chains from alerting Ernie, and then mouthed the words: "**Yurei no Jutsu!**" (_Ghost Technique!_)

Although his magic/chakra was suppressed and couldn't be used outside the body, he could still grasp enough of it for this technique and use it on himself, and that's just what he did. He pushed the flow of power towards his wrists and concentrated it on the place where the cold metal of the shackles met with his ANBU armguards. If one had been able to see beneath the shackles, the armguards and the fingerless gloves that reached almost up to the shoulder, then they'd been able to see Harry's wrists slowly start to flicker and become transparent. The colours were spread as if water had been dripped into not-dry paint, and the heavy shackles started to sink towards the ground slowly, almost as if they were going through thick jelly.

Harry was in fact parting the molecules that made up his body, allowing the shackles to slip through the gaps. It was a technique that had its roots in Healer techniques, and he had to be careful not to let any of his molecules disappear into the air. It took a hell of a lot of concentration and chakra, and the entire thing hurt like hell – especially since an artery was located in the wrist. Harry had used this technique only once before to steal some information on a mission, and he had barely managed to put himself correctly back together again. He didn't even want to think what would happen if he tried to walk completely through a wall, and he wasn't going to try it out any time soon. There was so much to concentrate on, the vital organs, the heart, and most of all the brain! It gave him the shivers just to think about it.

The shackles were finally through, and fell to the ground. To keep them from making too much obvious noise, Harry caught them on his foot, and nearly cursed out loud. The damn things were heavy!

"-Now, now, Harry, there's no need to sink down into despair,-" Ernie said, misunderstanding the clinking and clanking of the chains. "-You will be grateful once I get you away from these savages, believe me. And once you've gotten rid of Voldemort you can come back here, if you so desire, and become one of them for all I care. So be a good little boy and stay still, I'm almost done with the incantation.-"

'_Use as much time as you want, Macmillan,'_ Harry thought to himself as he watched his wrists put themselves back together. A couple drops of blood fell to the ground before he managed to catch them, and he nearly winced at the sound.

"-No need to cry!-" Ernie said, then did one last swish with his wand. "-There now! It's all done, unfortunately I released the dementors as well, so we need to get out of here before the damn creatures realise what has happened. Your friends will do well as sacrifices while we get away.-" He turned around with a smile, only to end up meeting a hard right hook courtesy of Harry.

Harry hadn't held back his strength at all, and watched as Ernie flew several feet backwards and landed with a gasp. The green-eyed man then simply ignored the former Hufflepuff and concentrated on the bars of the cage. Wispy smoke was moving along each bar, and it would take long before the dementors fled their prisons. He needed to chase the soul-suckers away at once, or risk someone losing their soul.

"Itachi! Manji!" he shouted as he got ready, and the two ANBU appeared at once. "Itachi, you help me here. Manji, take care of Macmillan."

"Hai!" Manji disappeared and appeared in front of Ernie in time to send him to the ground with a well-placed kick.

"What can I do to help, Harry-sensei?" Itachi asked seriously.

"Stand in front of me, and think of the happiest emotions you have. No matter what you see or what happens, _do_ _not_ lose your hold on those emotions, understand?"

"Hai!" Itachi placed himself in front of Harry, and the older man put his left hand on the top of the Uchiha's head, whilst his right – hold his wand – was stretched straight out over Itachi's shoulder. "I'm ready, sensei."

Harry drew strength form both his own and Itachi's happy emotions and memories, and his entire right hand started to glow with a bright, silvery light. As the light grew in brightness and power, the bars of the cage started rattling and shaking and finally the dementors started appearing. Itachi winced slightly, but otherwise didn't move or lose his concentration, and Harry poured even more power into the spell, then he released it with a shout of, "_Expecto_ _Patronum_!"

The spell broke out from his hand like a tsunami, sudden and bringing total destruction. The dementors were pushed away before they even realised what had happened, and their inhuman screeches nearly made Harry lose his concentration to cover his ears.

"**Expecto Patronum no Jutsu!**" Manji shouted doing the hand-seal version of the spell, and his patronus – a shower of shuriken and kunai – joined in chasing the dementors away. They pierced the creatures, bringing them pain, and in the end the dementors fled into the deserts of the Wind Country.

Having used so much of their energy to chase the dementors away, both Harry and Itachi sunk to their knees, panting, sweating and their chests heaving is if they were tasting air for the first time in their lives. Manji didn't look much better, but at least he stayed standing, and he quickly found a piece of chocolate to eat. Itachi rummaged in his utility pouch and shared his own with Harry.

"Kami-sama…" Itachi panted and tried to keep himself from throwing up.

Harry tried to get up, but stumbled and had to grab onto the bars of the cage to keep from falling face first to the ground. He pulled himself up and walked around the cart until he found the door, and wrenched it open. He started trying to sort out what limb belonged to whom. First out of the cage was Kakashi, and Harry placed him on the ground far away form the cart and cage, right underneath the trees. Manji brought out Sakura and placed her beside Kakashi, whist Itachi grabbed Sasuke and sat down with the small boy in his lap beside the other two unconscious people. A while later everyone was out, and Ernie was then placed into the cage and his wand was broken with a satisfying snap.

"Who is this boy?" Manji asked as he gazed upon the one figure they didn't know. It was a rather feminine-looking teenage boy. He was dressed in loose pants, a sash, a gi and a long-sleeved sweater underneath. His clothes had a green and blue colour-scheme, and the forehead protector proclaimed him from the Hidden Village of Mist.

Harry studied the boy for a moment, then muttered, "Haku. His name is Haku, he's the henchman of Momochi Zabuza if I remember correctly. You've probably seen him in the Shinobi Bingo Book." He clutched Naruto's cold and clammy body closer to himself, and one hand squeezed Kakashi's hand.

Manji – who was taking care of Hermione and Sakura – sighed. "What are we to do with him, then?"

"I'll send a message to the Mizukage tonight."

"What happened to them?" Itachi wondered quietly. "What happened to throw them all together? And where is Zabuza himself?"

"We'll know as soon as one of them wakes up." Harry replied and sighed. _'Just you wait until I can deal with you, Ernie! You'd have wished you were never born by the time I'll be done with you!'_

-x-x-x-x-

There, please tell me what you think. Originally I was going to make this chapter slightly longer, but this seems like a fitting place to stop, so, yeah…

Someone asked me about the interrogation of Lucius Malfoy. Er, I must admit that I totally forgot about the guy, but if you want me to I can write about it. Your choice. And just because I don't write about any sexual encounters it doesn't mean that everyone took a wow of celibacy, a story doesn't need to have sex to be good. And about the levels of strength of the characters, well, the way I see it is that with Harry there some things have been changed. Harry is about the same level that Itachi was in Kishimoto's manga, whilst Itachi is slightly lower.

About the horcruxes – the sword and the crystal ball – don't worry, it will come soon enough. As will Harry's meeting with Gaara, and the explanation of their history, it will be at the same time Harry moves back to the Wizarding World for a while. When that happens I think I'll move this to the Harry Potter section.

Thanks to:

Surarrin, Fattyaddy-99, hecate-19, Shadow Crystal Mage, Sk8er7, Ran Hoshino, hittocerebattosai, Sarah R Potter, Adnexus, The Insane Imortal Dragon, magerm, BasicallyAnIdiot, mangekyou kakashi, miako, candidus-lupus-full Moon, arsenic-graffiti, Morrolan, VB, FireAngel8723, SlytherinWicca, ImproperUseOfMotorVehicles, Fan of Great Works, firmin, SensiblyTainted, Firehedgehog, Lila Mae, Z-AKA Andrea-, polabear, Dual Rasengan, Higuma Otoshi, Yue Ryong – Shadowborne, oldmagic, duenna, Knives, Moon-Freak00, Rohynn, sakurafairy, yay and CrimsonxRainxIsxFalling.


	15. Chapter 15

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** A new day, a new chapter. I hope I got everyone in-character, or as close as their original characters as possible. Please enjoy the long chapter ahead!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Fifteen**

That evening Harry contacted Ron through the medallions, and it didn't take long before Ron himself and another Mist shinobi of jounnin rank appeared in puffs of smoke. Ron was dressed in the standard shinobi uniform, but he also wore a long white cloak over that. The cloak's sleeves and hem was outlined in a light, light blue, and had the pattern of wispy mist. This clearly marked him as the Mizukage. The Mist jounnin who accompanied him looked like a failed breeding experiment between a shark and a human. His greyish hair stuck right up – literally – and he had what seemed to be gills on each cheek. Even his eyes were shark-like, and it freaked Itachi out completely. The Uchiha picked Sasuke up and made ready to bolt, he even activated his sharingan just in case. The guy had one huge sword resting on his back, and Itachi didn't want to take any chances.

Manji bowed politely towards the new arrivals, but he never took his eyes away from them, his years as a shinobi beaten into him all too well. "Mizukage-sama."

Ron nodded back to the greeting, then focused his gaze on Harry. "So, old boy," he began and shocked everyone with the informality of the greeting. "What's this important reason which dragged me all the way out here?"

"The reason is over there, Ron," Harry replied and nodded towards the still-unconscious Haku. Together he and Ron walked over to the boy, and kneeled down beside him. "Dementors," Harry said to the unvoiced question. "He was unfortunate enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm not quite sure yet what happened, but Ernie Macmillan was the one responsible both for this and the black market dealings between the Shinobi Continent and the Wizarding World."

"Excuse me!" the tall redhead exclaimed.

The exclamation caught the attention of the shark-like jounnin. The guy had been staring at Itachi's sharingan, clearly both fascinated and freaked out, just as Itachi was freaked out and fascinated with his own appearance. The jounnin cast one last look towards the Uchiha, shuddered, then hurried over to his Mizukage where he was sure he would be safe. The red eyes would probably give him nightmares!

Manji, who had watched this in silence, just smiled and continued to tend to the fire. He was sure that Itachi and this Mist jounnin were well on their way to become the best of friends. _'A nice connection for Konoha!'_ the Hyuuga happily decided and started whistling a silly little tune, in the process completely ruining the serious mood of the moment.

In the meantime the discussion between Harry and Ron had continued, and had turned into English. The two had completely ignored the byplay, and they paid no heed to the Mist jounnin's arrival. Instead, the two of them retreated away from the fire a bit to get some more privacy, before they spoke again.

"-Ernie Macmillan?-" Ron said sceptically. "-The guy who thought that the DA was the most important thing we did in sixth year? The guy who was watching over Naruto? The _Hufflepuff_?-"

"-The very same, and no, I don't know two Ernie Macmillan's and thank the heavens for that.-" Harry sighed. He hadn't told his friend about Naruto's bad start at life, and he had only told Hermione about his suspicions concerning Ernie's connections to the black market. He didn't want to make people suspicious if it turned out that his accusations were false, and this is how it turned out.

"-Well, damn! And I suppose the guy wasn't treating Naruto correctly, which is why you took over the role, huh?-" Ron watched as the green-eyed man gave a short nod. "-I never did buy your excuse of keeping Naruto because the lad followed you home anyway. So, I assume you have evidence for this?-"

Harry nodded again. "-Of course I do, Hermione's been on it for months.-" And then he proceed to explain about the circumstances which had led them all here. "-I have no idea why Haku is here though, but as I said, I have suspicions. However, none of those can be confirmed until we talk to one of the people involved.-"

"-And Zabuza?-" Ron wondered quietly, almost afraid to hear the answer. When he first arrived at the Hidden Mist Village, he had quickly befriended Momochi Zabuza, and later – after the guy had picked up Haku – Ron had been to one to teach a couple of things to the feminine boy. They'd all been good friends, and even when Zabuza's planned coup failed, Ron couldn't bring himself to hate the man nor the boy.

"-I'm not sure yet, but I doubt he is alive,-" Harry sighed. "-I'm sorry Ron. I'll get back to you on the matter as soon as I have more information.-"

This time it was Ron who nodded. "Kisame, would you mind carrying Haku back to the Village?" he addressed the shark-like jounnin who quickly nodded and picked up the unconscious boy.

"I'll wait for you here, Godaime-sama," the jounnin, now identified as Kisame, replied and revealed sharp, pointy teeth. He stood as far away from a glaring Itachi as he could get and still be in sight.

Ron raised an eyebrow at that behaviour, but otherwise ignored it. "-Is there anything else?-"

"-I'll be going back to the Wizarding World soon,-" the green-eyed man said. "-Only for a short while, though. Orochimaru plans to attack Konoha during the upcoming Chunnin Exams, and the Sandaime doesn't want me there to keep me from revealing to whom my true loyalties lie. And after this fiasco with Macmillan I think it's time I took a little check on what's been going on.-"

"-I understand…-"

"-What is it?-"

"-I suppose I better tell you this now rather than later.-" He took a deep breath. "-Harry, I don't think I'll be able to join in the last battle against Voldemort. You know that kunoichi I've been seeing for the past five years, and have lived with for the last three of those? We weren't sure just how serious we were about the relationship, you know how unpredictable a shinobi's life is. Well, now I know: I'm in love with her, Harry. _We're_ in love with each other!-"

Harry simply stared in surprise at his old friend, then managed a smile. He suddenly felt as if all around him people were finding the person they wanted to spend their life with and have children with, and yet he was still all alone. He also felt slightly betrayed, he'd always counted on Ron being there through everything, but now it seemed as the redhead wouldn't be there with him. However, he was happy for his friend and he pushed any other thoughts away. "-That's wonderful, Ron.-"

The taller man smiled as well. "-That's not all, Harry.-"

"-There's more?-"

Ron nodded, his smile turning into a proud, full-blown grin. "-We just found out two weeks ago.-"

"-Found out what?-"

"-She's pregnant! My Rukia is pregnant! I'm going to be a father in approximately seven months!-"

Harry laughed at the sheer joy he found in Ron's face. "-That's the best thing that could've happened! Congratulations to yourself and Rukia! Your mother is going to have kittens, you do know that, right? She'll demand a proper wedding.-"

"-She can demand all she want. We talked over it when we found out about the pregnancy, and we decided to stay unmarried. Neither of us are the marrying type, and we're completely fine as we are.-" Ron nodded to emphasize his point.

"-Don't tell that to me, but to your mother. Seriously, as long as you two are happy I don't mind.-"

"-Thank you for understanding, Harry. You know how short a shinobi's life is, and I really don't want to make it any shorter. Besides, I want to watch my child grow up. Then I want to retire, snoop into other peoples business, and finally annoy people by pretending I'm deaf.-"

The two of them chuckled at this. It was a deal they had made – along with Hermione – that they would still be friends at the end of it all.

"Well," Harry said in Japanese. "I think it's time for you to head back if you want to be home before sunrise."

"Yep." The tall redhead nodded goodbye to Itachi and Manji, then went to stand over by Kisame. "Remember to tell me what you get out of Macmillan, and don't be a stranger!" he said to Harry, then both he and Kisame were gone in puffs of smoke.

Harry shook his head fondly, then sat down between the unconscious Kakashi and Naruto.

Manji looked up at him. "I never knew you and the Godaime Mizukage were such good friends, Harry."

"We're old pals from school." Harry replied. "I have told you about him before, if I remember correctly."

"Perhaps so, but you never mentioned he was the leader of the Hidden Mist Village!" the Hyuuga pouted. "His companion reminded me of my pet piranha. You remember the one, Harry?"

"How could I forget the fish from hell?" the other man grumbled. "You weren't there at the time, Itachi," he explained to the confused Uchiha. "This insane person here had a pet piranha whom he called Ai-chan. The damn thing literally attacked anyone but Manji, and you couldn't get too close."

Itachi winced. He'd heard horror stories about the fish from hell from other shinobi around the office, and not even Gai had liked Ai-chan – which said a lot about the fish's personality. He was glad he had never been unfortunate enough to meet the piranha as it had '_mysteriously'_ disappeared one day.

Manji had been devastated for about five minutes, before he'd headed out to buy a new pet. However, all the shinobi in the vicinity had mobbed him and tied him up, and had refused to set him free before he signed a contract in blood which stated that he would never again, as long as he lived, get another pet. Chihiro had been freed from this contract seeing as most people quite rightly considered her to be much saner than her husband.

-x-x-x-x-

The first to wake up from the dementor-induced coma-like state of nightmarish dreams, was Sakura. It wasn't surprising really, seeing as she was the only one who didn't come from a shinobi family which meant that she was the most innocent one of them all. It wasn't a calm waking where one battered one's eyelids, nor was it one of those where people wake up because they suddenly find themselves on the floor after falling out of bed. No, Sakura woke up with a terrified gasp, her eyes wide and wild, and tears starting to run down her pale face.

Harry quickly sat down in front of her, and put his hands calmingly on her shoulders. "It's alright. It's over." He said in his most calming voice.

"…. Harry-san…?"Sakura chocked out, then threw herself into his arms, clutching on to him with all her might and started crying earnestly.

"It's alright, Sakura-chan. You're safe." The green-eyed ANBU kept repeating and slightly rocking the girl in his arms. She was shaking like a leaf. He looked up as both Itachi and Manji kneeled down on each side of him, and both of them added their assurances, and together they managed to calm the girl down enough for her to accept a large cup of hot chocolate which helped to calm her even more.

"There, it's all better," Manji said. He had taken over for Harry as Sakura's teddy bear, and he didn't mind. He stroked her pink hair, and she leaned into his comfort like a child starved for attention. "Here, drink another cup."

Sakura accepted the second cup and made short work of it. "A-ariga-gato," she sniffed.

Harry and Itachi simply nodded, and they spent yet another thirty minutes in silence, giving the young girl more time to calm down and distance herself from her emotions before they started the interrogation.

Finally Itachi sighed and decided to break the silence. "Sakura-kun, what happened?"

Sakura stiffened in Manji's fatherly embrace. "…"

"Take your time," Harry said kindly, "but we need to know everything – no matter how painful."

The pink-haired girl was clutching her cup almost to the point of breaking it, her breathing ragged, and the colour she had regained from drinking the hot chocolate had nearly disappeared again. But suddenly she seemed to put herself together, and when she looked up her eyes were determined. "I… I don't know if I can remember everything, but…"

"It doesn't matter, just tell us what you know, and do it at your own pace." Manji gave her a squeeze. "And if it takes the whole week then it takes the whole damn week. We don't care as long as you're alright."

Sakura nodded gratefully, then took a deep breath before she began.

She told them how their mission had gone, and exactly what she thought of the bridge-builder Tazuna and his lying drunkard ways – or, better said, what she had thought to be his lying and drunkard ways. She told them about the fight with the Demon Brothers, and then the first meeting and ensuing battle with Momochi Zabuza and their brief glimpse of his henchman Haku. Sakura told them of the time they spent in the Wave Country, and their tree-climbing exercises. At this there were fond smiles as the three ANBU remembered their own attempts to master that technique years earlier. Then she explained about the second fight between Team Seven and Momochi Zabuza and Haku. This happened on the nearly-finished bridge Tazuna was working on.

At this point Sakura hesitated.

"Go on," Manji encouraged her with yet another squeeze whilst Harry handed her yet another cup of hot chocolate.

Sakura accepted the cup almost on autopilot, but didn't say much for quite some time. When she finally began, her voice was wavy and her eyes suspiciously wet. "I-I'm not r-really sure what happened n-next. We… we were at th-the last stages of the battle, when a-a s-sudden chill crept o-over the bridge. Ta-Tazuna-san didn't seem a-able to feel o-or see much, b-but Kakashi-sensei a-and Zabuza stop-ped fighting at once and in-instead went back to back and started ma-making some sort of hand-seals…"

The trio waited for the young kunoichi to gather her thoughts and herself before she continued.

"Nar-Naruto and Sasuk-ke p-pushed Tazuna-san into the wa-water. I… I remember suddenly feeling as if… as if I'd never be happy again, and shouting fr-from the o-others, and… and the… th-they suddenly s-stared t-to scream, and…" she broke off into another fit of sobs, but she managed to choke out, "I-I do-don't rem-ember any-anything after tha-hat except da-darkness, a-an-and th-the night-nightmares…!" now she broke down completely and everyone knew they wouldn't get anything else out of here. Not that they needed to, she had told them everything she remembered. The terror the dementors infused their victims with was worst the first time around, and she had been exposed to their influence for about a week from what the three ANBU could calculate with the help of her tale.

Manji took up the task of calming Sakura down again. It took a long time, but finally the pink-haired girl was asleep, however, her grip on the Hyuuga didn't lessen at all.

Itachi sighed. "I remember the first time I ran afoul of dementors. Luckily it was with you Harry-sensei, and in controlled situations. I don't want to think what these three went through…" he trailed off and brushed the bangs out of Sasuke's face.

"I fainted the first time," Harry admitted.

"You did?" Manji wondered. This was a piece of information about the green-eyed man which he didn't already know.

Harry nodded. "It was on the way to my third year at Hogwarts. Would you believe me when I say that that's the first and only time ever I hear my parent's voices?"

The other two didn't know what to say to that, so they said nothing and let the silence sink down over their little camp. They were all lost in their own thoughts, and would worry about tomorrow when it came.

-x-x-x-x-

After a quick answer-my-questions-wrong-and-you-get-hurt session with Macmillan, Harry knew the Hufflepuff's side of the story.

"So, what did he say?" Manji asked. The entire conversation had been in English, and too fast and too full of sobs and cries of pain to be understandable to him and Itachi with their limited knowledge.

"He basically simply confirmed what Sakura told us and what we had already suspected," Harry replied as he put on his ANBU mask and put it on. "However, now I know what happened to Momochi Zabuza."

"Oh?" Itachi looked up fro where he'd been watching over the fire.

"Mhmm, Zabuza-san ended up as a dementor's meal. His body was left on the bridge, but the locals have probably taken care of it. Just in case though, I'll go check up on it and also Tazuna."

"And when will you be back?"

"Around dawn the day after tomorrow if everything goes well." Harry disappeared from the sights of his two companions, and set out towards Wave Country. He travelled throughout the night, and reached his destination a little before midday. The nearly-finished bridge was the first thing that he saw, and it was littered wit the signs of an intense shinobi battle. Seeing as there was no one there, Harry made his way to Tazuna's home with the help of the directions Sakura had given the night before. It didn't take him long to reach the house in question, and he landed silently on the wooden walkway which went all around it. He looked around once to make sure that no one had noticed him, then knocked on the door.

The door opened only a crack, and Harry stared down at a little snot-nosed brat about Konohomaru's age. The boy wore a white hat, green overalls, and he looked ready to start crying and whining at any given moment.

'_That's got to be the Inari-kid Sakura was complaining about last night.'_

"Who're you?" the boy demanded, not asked, _demanded_. "Why do you wear that stupid mask? Did Gato send you? He did, didn't he! Well, we don't want you here, so go away!" and with that the brat slammed the door shut.

Harry stood there for a second trying to find out just what the hell had happened. Shaking himself from his brat-induced stupor, he knocked on the door for a second time. This time it was opened by a young woman with long, black hair and black eyes. Judging by Sakura's descriptions then this had to be the brat's mother and Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami.

"May I help you?" the woman asked carefully.

"Do not be alarmed, Tsunami-san, I come with news about Team Seven, and to finish their mission for them." Harry said with a polite nod.

"OH!" she exclaimed and opened the door wide enough for him to slip through. "Come in! Have you seen Team Seven? Are they alright? What happened? Is Kakashi-san recovered from his ch-chakra depletion yet?" she stumbled over the word which she normally didn't use and hadn't really known about until she had met Team Seven.

"Please calm down, ma'am," the green-eyed ANBU told her calmly but firmly. He didn't want anyone to overhear. "This should not be discussed in a half-open doorway."

"Of course! How stupid of me! Please sit down Mr… um… I'm afraid I didn't quite catch your name…?"

"You can call me Ookami." Harry replied and sat down at the kitchen table. He made sure he had the entire room in his view, and on reflex noted all the possible exits and everything else.

Tazuna himself was sitting at the table reading the paper, but he looked up when he heard the other man sit down. Then he promptly nearly jumped out of his chair as he exclaimed, "I know you! You're one of those from the farewell committee when we left Konoha!"

Inari jumped up on a chair, and glared suspiciously at the shinobi. "You mean this guy's trustworthy?"

"Inari!" Tsunami yelled.

"Of course he's trustworthy!" Tazuna replied. "I think…"

"Father!"

"Then why does he wear that stupid mask?"

"Inari!"

Harry really wanted to knock the brat unconscious. Not even Naruto asked so many questions, and at least the blond knew enough to stop asking them when Harry was in this kind of mood. Instead of hurting the brat, Harry forced his tone into one of civility, and replied to the brat's question. "It's because I'm ANBU that I wear the mask."

"ANBU? What's that?"

"The highest rank in the shinobi hierarchy, only topped by the sannin-rank." Harry then proceeded to tell the family a very toned-down version of the events which had transpired. Then, after a short inner debate, decided to explain to them that when they felt the chill of the dementors creep in over them the only thing they could do was to run in the other direction as fast as they could. He only said that nothing good could come out of staying in one place, and didn't tell them about the dementors themselves. "And now I would like to know what happened to Momochi Zabuza."

Tazuna was the one who replied. "He's dead. One of my workers found his corpse drifting on the river, and once he pulled it up he discovered lacerations and wounds that no one – not even a shinobi – could survive. He buried the corpse somewhere in the woods, he didn't mark the grave though."

Harry nodded. "Not the course of action I would have preferred, but it will hold as long as the rumour of where Zabuza's grave is doesn't spread beyond this family – and that friend of yours. Otherwise you will have missing-nins in search of techniques to steal clambering at your door. Well then, shall we see about this bridge of yours, Tazuna-san?"

"It will take me approximately half and hour to gather up the men-"

"That won't be necessary, I won't need them."

"Huh?"

"I have my own ways to do things, Tazuna-san, but I will need you there to guide me through it. You are, after all, a master bridge-builder. Now, if you could only grab a hold of my arm then we'll be on our way…" he held out his arms and the old man hesitantly took a hold of it.

Inari jumped up and grabbed a hold of Harry's leg. "I'm coming too!"

"Inari!" Tsunami yelled yet again.

"It's alright, ma'am. If he gets in the way I'll send him back." Harry said kindly, whilst in reality he wanted to start hopping around trying to shake the little parasite off his leg. Naruto was never this difficult when he was younger. "Ready?" he received two nods, then suddenly did a little twist on the balls of his feet and the three of them disappeared from the kitchen with a _pop_ and a gaping Tsunami was left behind in the empty room.

Once they appeared on the bridge both Tazuna and Inari looked slightly green, and they quickly let go of Harry. The ANBU smirked at this little form of revenge, then walked over to the unfinished side of the bridge. "So, Tazuna-san, what needs to be done here? What goes where?" he nodded in the direction of the building materials.

"Right!" Tazuna said determinately once he managed to calm his stomach. He pointed to several steel beams. "These here-"

"There will be no building today!" a new voice called out from behind them. And when they turned they spotted Gato and his hired goons standing there, trying to look menacing.

Harry sighed. He'd heard them a coming a mile off, but he'd hoped they would be smart enough to recognise an ANBU when they saw one. Apparently they weren't, and he would be forced to use precious time on fighting them. Time he didn't have because he wanted to get back to Naruto and then to Konoha as soon as possible. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to stop annoying me, and simply walk away without a fight!" he called to the group.

"Keep dreaming!" several thugs yelled.

"Shinobi bastard!" some others added.

"I'm warning you!" Harry told them. "I'm annoyed right now!"

"We don't care! There are more of us than there are of you!" a thug at the forefront waved his katana in a threatening manner. "Idiot!"

Harry's eyebrow twitched under the mask. "Please stand back you two," he said to Tazuna and Inari. "This is going to get very ugly." He raised his ANBU mask high enough to uncover his mouth, then proceeded to walk towards Gato and the goons whilst his hands made hand-seals too fast for anyone to catch. He took a deep breath, then let it all out. "**Katon: Karyuu Endan!**" (_Fire Element: Fire-Dragon Flame Blast!_)

A large dragon of fire shot out from between his lips and it headed straight towards the bad guys. Tazuna and Inari watched in horrified fascination as those unfortunate enough to find themselves in the dragon's path were burnt to dust in seconds. Gato and his goons stared as well.

"What are you idiots waiting for!" Gato suddenly shouted. "Kill him before he can perform another one!" he ordered, but the goons hesitated. "The one who brings me the shinobi's head, will get a bag of gold!"

The goons attacked.

"**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!**" (_Fire Element: Grand Fireball!_)

"Stop hiding behind those fancy skills of yours, and fight like a man!" one of the goons lucky enough to survive the enormous fireball which had come from the ANBU's mouth, shouted.

Harry replied by taking out four shuriken in one hand and four kunai in the other, and threw them towards the attackers. The goons, thinking they had finally gotten him cornered, just kept on going. At this point the green-eyed shinobi made a very short sequence of hand-seals, and then finally shouted, "**Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" (_Shadow-Shuriken Clone Skill!_)

The few weapons multiplied into what seemed to be hundreds, and the poor goons didn't even stand a snowballs chance in hell. They all fell until finally Gato was the only one standing. The man was sweating like a pig, and when Harry turned his way his legs began to shake. To the man's terrified mind the grinning wolf-mask suddenly seemed so much more frightening than it had only ten minutes ago, and he scrambled backwards hoping to get away, but in vain. Harry was upon him faster than one could blink, and he had also drawn the katana which he rarely used, but always rested on his back. One clean swipe, and Gato's head was rolling on the bridge.

Tazuna had forced Inari to look away the second Harry started on his second fire-technique, and then the old bridge-builder watched as the ANBU calmly and without emotions took care of the rest of the company, and then finally Gato's end. He had never met someone so cold-blooded, even Kakashi-san had displayed more emotions! He was suddenly very, _very_ glad that Ookami was leaving as soon as the bridge was done.

A few discrete swishes of Harry's wand later, and the bridge stood almost finished. The rest Tazuna and his men would have to do, but the most difficult part Harry had dealt with. Now he was getting ready to leave, and totally ignoring Tazuna's glaring for leaving all those people in a heap. Those were for the citizens of the Wave Country to handle, he'd spent enough time here already. Someone tugged on his pants, and he looked down.

"Please take care of Naruto-nii-san for me?" Inari asked him.

Harry blinked. _'Naruto-nii-san? When the devil did that happen?'_ he wondered, but nodded. "Sure. I'll tell him you said hello."

"Thanks!" Inari grinned up at him in a manner not unlike Naruto's, and Harry couldn't help but ruffle the boy's hair. "Hey!" he exclaimed happily.

"You will receive a check with the correct sum to pay for the mission in about a week's time," the green-eyed man said to Tazuna, who spluttered in indignation. "Sa, sayonara!" with that Harry took off at top speed towards the camp where he had left the others, and was out of Tazuna and Inari's sight before they could blink.

"Most shinobi seem to be completely without feelings, and that is one of the worst I'd say." Tazuna mumbled and shuddered as he thought about the battle and the corpses.

Inari shook his head and put his hat back on. "No, he's not!" he replied with a large grin.

-x-x-x-x-

They had reached Konoha a few days earlier. Sakura had gone home to her family, Ernie Macmillan had been thrown into one of the most secure cells in the Hokage Tower where he waited for his punishment. Manji took Hermione to his own house where Chihiro could take care of her, and Itachi had brought Sasuke to his own apartment. There was no way he was letting Sasuke stay in the Uchiha sector of the city, the boy would consequently be even more terrorised when he woke up again! Iruka agreed easily to take care of Kakashi, and let the silver-haired man stay with him, and Harry brought Naruto back to his apartment.

Two days after they had gotten back to Konoha, an excited Shisui showed up with the happy news that Sasuke had woken up, and the day after that Manji reported that Hermione was up and about again. Then Iruka reported that Kakashi had woken up the night before, but had gone back into sleep, and now only Naruto had to show any signs of waking up.

Harry brushed the blond bangs out of Naruto's face, then traced the three whisker-like scars on each cheek with careful fingertips. Naruto was lying on Harry's own futon, and the situation reminded him so much of the one when Naruto had been only two and when he'd found the boy sleeping out in the freezing corridor.

"Come on, Naruto, wake up," the green-eyed man whispered, not even aware that he was doing it. His fingertips continued stroking the boy's cheeks, and then – as if this had called the boy back from whatever hell he had been in – sky-blue eyes opened slowly. Harry swallowed hard, then leaned over. "Naruto?"

Naruto stared at him blankly, and for one horrifying moment Harry suspected that the boy had lost his memory, but then the blue eyes lit up in recognition, and the older man found himself bowled over by a shouting and crying blond brat.

"You're here, Harry-nii-san! You didn't leave me!" Naruto started to trace the lines of Harry's face like a blind person. "You're here." He breathed and the tears finally flowed over and down his cheeks.

"Of course I am, brat! And I'm going to stay glued to your hip from now on so much that you'll get sick of me!" Harry grinned and wiped some of the tears away with his thumb.

The boy shook his head, then buried in Harry's neck. "Never! That will never happen!"

Some people cried their hearts out when these kinds situations happened (Sakura), others were so happy they freaked everyone out (Manji), then there was the type which didn't need to say anything at all, and two of those were Naruto and Harry. They simply laid there in silence for the longest time. Outside the window they could see the daylight turning into dusk, and then into night, and Harry was wondering if Naruto had fallen asleep again, when the blond started to shudder.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" the older man asked.

"I… I saw him…" Naruto whispered and tightened his hold. "Wh-while I was unconscious I saw him face to face. I-I even talked to h-him!"

"Who?" Harry tightened his own arms in reassurance.

There was a long silence before Naruto finally replied, and Harry had almost fallen asleep sure that Naruto had done the same, and he had nearly forgotten about the question.

"… Kyuubi…"

One simple word, said so lowly that normal ears wouldn't have been able to pick it up, yet it was enough to make the ANBU snap to attention faster than anything else.

"_WHAT_!"

-x-x-x-x-

There, that's done. Please tell me what you think.

Originally this chapter wasn't going to be this long, but then it kept expanding further and further – you know, one sentence here, another there – and in the end this monster was the result. The part with Wave Country wasn't supposed to be that long, heck, it wasn't even supposed to be there at all! And when I had finally thought I'd finally gotten rid of _Long_ _Chapteritis_ -.-'

Someone asked me why Ernie Macmillan of all people managed to best several fully-trained shinobi. Well, this is my reasoning: dementors. They affect everyone, and all shinobi do horrible things on almost a daily basis, therefore they have more bad memories and to feel guilty about. Consequently the dementors affect them more than normal people, savvy? And his due will come soon enough. Also people asked me what Voldie's been up to whilst all this has been going on. All I can say is that you will have to wait and see. More information will come the closer we get to Harry's going back to the Wizarding World, and then there'll be even more information when he actually does get back to ye ol'e England.

The horcruxes will be dealt with, but not anytime soon. The first one will be sometimes after Harry's return and Tsunade becoming the new Hokage. When I move this story to the Harry Potter-section in a couple of chapter – don't worry, I'll give you a warning! – it will still be the same story, and not a sequel.

And right now I would like to recommend the fic '**Abyssus**' by ANBUHound. It's an excellent story definitely worth the read!

For those of you interested I have drawn an illustration for this fic, and it can be found at my deviantArt page. The link is in my bio.

Thanks to:

jjeeff185, Firehedgehog, Shika, Surarrin, Knives, SensiblyTainted, sakurafairy, magerm, Adnexus, C.M Aeris Queen of Insanity, firmin, The Insane Imortal Dragon, Moon-Freak00, dark672, Lazuliel, BasicallyAnIdiot, I-Y-T-Y, Anave Lipad, Morrolan, Z-AKA Andrea-, Lady Threarah, candidus-lupus-full Moon, scythe195, HarbringerLady, Fattyaddy-99, VB, Really Bad Fanfiction, arsenic-graffiti, braindead, ImproperUseOfMotorVehicles, Honebar, cheerful-pinkstar, hittocerebattosai, SCOTT, Regress35, kirallie, and VessaMorana.


	16. Chapter 16

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Well people, it seems as though I am confined to the bed for at least a week. I busted my knee last week, and now it's doing a grand impression of a bloated melon. Very annoying, but at least I have more time to write and update. Either way, enjoy the chapter and please forgive me if there are more spelling mistakes than usual. It's difficult to write sitting in bed, one leg stretched out and with the laptop on a table lower than the bed itself… -.-'

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Sixteen**

_When Naruto had been seven he had entered Harry's apartment on Harry's day off. He looked very depressed, his shoulders sagging, and looked nothing at all like his usual hyper – and loud – self. The blond had simply walked in and sat down on the couch without looking up at the older man, nor reacting when a bowl of ramen was put in front of him. It had reminded Harry extremely of the first time Naruto had finally managed to work up his courage to visit Harry of his own free will back when he was two years old, and a few weeks after Harry saving him from the beating in the alley._

"_Naruto? Anything wrong?" Harry had asked as he sat down beside the boy._

_Naruto had shook his head. "No. No, everything's… fine…"_

_He decided it was best not to ask anymore, and had simply replied with a: "Alright."_

_It hadn't taken long before Naruto spoke again. "Why?" _

"_Why what?"_

"_Why does everyone hate me?" the question had been asked so lowly that Harry had had trouble hearing it._

_The green-eyed man had frozen with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, the ramen dripping all over, and looked down at the blond boy. "Who told you that?"_

"_No one," Naruto had lapsed into silence for a while. "I can see it in their eyes. And… and the… the… the…"_

"_Incident?" Harry had suggested gently._

"_The incident when I was two, when you saved me made it kinda obvious."_

_Harry had sighed heavily and leaned back, his food completely forgotten. He had taken quite an amount of time thinking on how to word his answer. "They hate you because they fear you. They fear you because they do not understand your situation, because they do not know who you are, because they don't understand you, because they are stupid as loaves of bread and need to blame something." _

"_Huh? What's so special about me that makes 'em like that?" Naruto had wondered, his big, blue eyes fixed on Harry._

_In response Harry had stood up, gone to his shelf where he'd found his notepad and a pencil, then he had started writing. He had written for about ten minutes before he had been satisfied, then he had returned to Naruto and handed the notepad to Naruto. "It's forbidden to talk about – orders from the Sandaime – but the old man never said anything about writing it down and then you accidentally finding it. Read it, afterwards we'll talk." _

_And that's how Naruto had found out that he had a demon – the most powerful of all the nine – contained in his own body. The two of them had been awake far into the night, with Harry answering any questions that Naruto might have. They talked about the Yondaime, why Arashi had chosen his own, new-born son for the task, and absolutely everything. The two of them had fallen asleep, but the next morning Harry had made Naruto promise not to mention any of this to anyone since he technically wasn't supposed to know._

-x-x-x-x-

Harry came out of his memories when he felt Naruto shiver and try to pull away. He tightened his hold on the boy, and started to mumble nonsense in his ear in an effort to calm the demon vessel down.

"Shush, Naruto, it'll be alright."

"No it won't." Naruto replied with a sniff and tried to pull away again. "You don't like that I spoke with the Kyuubi. You're afraid that I'll set it free, and now you're afraid of _me_!"

"Great heavens, brat, what gave you that idea!" Harry looked straight into Naruto's eyes. "Yes, I don't like the fact that you spoke to the Kyuubi as I don't know what happened during that talk, but I'm not about to leave you or anything just because of that!"

"But you were so angry when I told you, then you suddenly went silent and-"

Harry sighed and squeezed the boy. "I was shocked, Naruto. I could have controlled my reaction better, I suppose, but that was one of the last things I ever expected to hear. Goes to show you that Murphy's law is still working, huh? Anyways, I'm not angry, I'm not going to leave you, now or later, and neither are the others of our little family of angsters."

"… I know…" Naruto admitted finally and relaxed again.

Another silence stretched between them, and neither broke it for any reason at all. The entire happening was too close to be discussed any further, and they'd have to wait until the next day when neither was tired, shocked, or on the verge of a breakdown. Naruto did fall asleep about an hour after the scene, but Harry stayed awake and only took occasional catnaps which never lasted any more than fifteen minutes at the most. He spent the time thinking and mulling over this new development, and around dawn he also started to wonder what would happen when he left for the Wizarding World. The Chunnin Exam was closing in fast, and he hadn't even told Orochimaru that he wouldn't be there. And what about his group of angsters, what would they do?

'_So much to think and do something about,'_ he thought to himself. _'Bleh! When all of this is over I'm either doing a Robinson Crusoe and go live on a deserted island, or I'm going to put myself into a nice, resting coma. Or perhaps even take a few swigs of the Draught of Living Death?'_ The green-eyed shinobi sighed again and ran his fingers through the blond porcupine-like nest of hair resting on his chest. "So many choices… and too few answers."

-x-x-x-x-

"Would you be willing to visit the Kyuubi again?"

Naruto stared at the green-eyed man who sat opposite him at the kitchen-counter, a couple of spaghetti hanging out of his mouth.

"Well, would you?" Harry asked again.

A frantic shake of the head.

"How about if I went with you?"

The negative shake of the head stopped mid-movement. "You… you could do that, Harry-nii-san?"

"Perhaps."

"Then I suppose I could be blackmailed into it." Naruto grinned and pointedly looked towards the cupboard where Harry usually kept the ramen supply, and Harry smirked in amusement. "But why? Why would you want to meet the demon?"

"I've always wanted to see the Nine-Tails." Came the simple answer, but Naruto really didn't trust Harry's now devilish smirk. "I promise, I just want to talk to the fox."

"If it's willing." The boy pointed out. "And if I'm willing to go through it."

"Of course. Are you willing?"

Naruto took another couple of mouthfuls of the delicious food, all the time staring suspiciously at the seemingly-innocent older man. He waited with his answer until they were finished eating. "What are you planning, Harry-nii-san?"

Harry didn't reply to Naruto's question, just continued to smirk devilishly.

"Alright!" Naruto finally gave in. "But you _will_ be there with me… right?"

"If I can, if not, then I'll do everything to keep you from meeting the demon again." Harry stood up and put away his bowl and eating utensils, then he headed over to the couch and waited for Naruto to join him.

"So, how do we do this, Harry-nii-san?" the blond boy asked as he sat down on the floor right in front of the older man.

"All you need to do is to relax and not fight when I enter your mind," the green-eyed man replied and put his fingertips on the boy's temples. "All relaxed?"

Naruto nodded, his eyes closed. "Hai!"

"Good, but for this to work you must open your eyes, and never look away from mine." Harry took a deep breath and waited until Naruto's blue eyes met his, then he whispered, "_Legilimens_!"

There was a moment of disorientation for the both of them, Harry also experiencing the usual swim through someone's thoughts, then suddenly both of them were standing in a dark, damp seemingly endless maze of underground corridors. The water on the floor was approximately shin deep and a murky green. The little light which existed came from the ceiling where the occasional lamp was found. Quite frankly it reminded Harry of one of those cheesy muggle movies, but he could also understand how freaky this must be to a child.

"We're here." Naruto announced unnecessarily. "The… the demon's this way."

Harry nodded and followed the boy. Soon enough they could hear the growling, and Naruto took the older man's hand in a tight grip before he led them down one of the side-corridors that lined the one they had been currently walking through. And there, right in front of them, stood the gates holding the demon inside. Everything was dark beyond the gates, but suddenly a couple of red eyes appeared, along with a row of white, sharp, deadly teeth bared in a grin. It really gave new meaning to the word 'devilish'.

"Th-there he is." Naruto whispered and stepped closer to Harry.

The demon stared at them, it's red eyes and smirk sending shivers down Harry's spine. "Come closer." The demon ordered in a deep, growling voice. It was almost impossible to resist, and the two of them couldn't stop themselves from taking a few steps forwards. As soon as they were close enough the demon attacked them, but only the tips of its claws got through. Still it was enough for the two of them to jump backwards in fright, and it was enough for Harry to pull Naruto behind himself just in case.

"I want to devour you, but this gate will not open!" the kitsune roared, but retreated its claws. "It is a detestable seal!"

"I should hope so," Harry muttered, his voice still slightly shaky. "I was one of those who made it."

"You were! Now I really want to kill you!" the Kyuubi roared and attacked the gates again. However, no matter what it did the gates did not budge one inch and the seal stayed intact.

Harry continued staring at the great beast and wondered if Arashi had felt this scared when he had been face to face with it before sealing it. _'He was probably even more terrified than I am now. After all, he met the damn thing without it being safely caged away.'_

"You came to me freely this time," the Kyuubi was apparently sick of the silence. "Why did you come?"

Harry put himself together as much as he could, and faced the caged demon. "We're here to make a deal."

"A deal?" both Naruto and Kyuubi repeated, both sounding shocked that he would even suggest such a thing.

"Yes, a deal. Seeing as Naruto is the one doing all the work whilst you just sit there and sleep all day long, I think he is entitled to something from you, a rent if you will."

"Yeah! Yeah!" Naruto had gotten his usual zest back again, and had jumped out form behind Harry. "Give me your _chakra_ as rent! Baka kitsune!" (stupid fox!)

The fox stared at them for a moment as if in total disbelief. Then it grinned again. "So you say that if the kit dies, then I die as well?" Kyuubi chuckled. "You have guts, blackmailing me like that. Alright, it's a deal and a reward for coming all the way here and proposing something like this to me of all demons! I'll give it to you, my chakra!"

A string of red chakra made its way through the bars of the cage and enveloped Naruto completely, rather like a snake ready to squeeze the life out of its victim. Suddenly Harry felt himself forcefully pushed away and out of Naruto's mind, and a second later he gasped and blinked as he found himself sitting on the couch again. Naruto was glowing slightly red, but then the glow disappeared as Kyuubi's chakra retreated, and the boy opened his eyes.

"Manji-san is correct! You're totally insane, Harry-nii-san!" Naruto told him.

Harry simply laughed.

-x-x-x-x-

As the Chunnin Exam got closer and closer Harry spent more and more time with his group of angsters, teaching them certain little tricks of the shinobi trade, and subtly but surely making them aware that something big was about to happen during the exam itself. Having decided it was safe enough to do so, he taught several Wand-Shinobi techniques that had been converted into hand-seals to Team Seven. Kakashi had originally wanted to wait with this until the gennins had a bit more experience – or until they had become chunnin – but he didn't protest. None of them did.

But that wasn't all that Harry was doing. He was also using this time to search for Orochimaru's second spy, and he had narrowed it down pretty much to only ten people. Out of those ten, there was one name which stuck out, Yukishiro Kabuto. He had failed the exam six times in a row now, or, better said, he had _quit_ the exam six times in a row. He wasn't born in Konoha but had been found by a medic-nin team, the only survivor of a massacre. At the time it had been assumed that the boy had survived because he had been hidden under a crate whilst the rest of the caravan he was travelling with had been murdered by missing-nins. This wasn't really a legitimate reason since one could be born outside of Konoha and still end up as a Konoha shinobi – a perfect example would be himself – but now Harry was starting to wonder. Especially since Kabuto had been found on the border between Fire Country and Rice Field Country. But the thing that really had him convinced that he had the correct guy, was a memory. Kimimaro had mentioned a medic-nin called Kabuto that was in Orochimaru's employ, and it was noted in the files of Yukishiro Kabuto that he had an excellent grip on healing techniques and strategy.

Once he was sure he had enough evidence to get Kabuto dragged in for at least a questioning, Harry had quickly gone over to the Hokage Tower and demanded to speak with the old man.

"Just a moment, ANBU-san," the shinobi behind the desk said and stood up. "If you'll wait here, I'll announce you to Sandaime-sama." The chunnin disappeared through the doors, and the two ANBU guards on each side of the door continued to do their duty. One of them was obviously a newbie because his eyes kept being drawn to Harry's stoic form time and time again, until his more experienced companion cleared his throat, or poked him, or smacked him upside the head.

Harry found it slightly amusing. He hadn't known – i.e. hadn't been willing to admit – that his reputation was this formidable in the shinobi world.

"You can go in, ANBU-san," the secretary was back and sat down at the desk again. "Sandaime-sama is waiting for you."

"Thank you." Harry said and then strode through the doors, completely ignoring the way the young ANBU straightened his posture in an attempt to impress him as he passed. He closed the door, and threw up a Silencing Charm or two just in case, then he focused on the old man behind the desk.

"What can I help you with, Harry-san?" the Sandaime asked and pushed his crystal ball away. He observed how the other man's green eyes followed the path of the round ball, and shook his head. It happened every time the other happened upon him while the crystal ball was out and being used. "No, Harry-san. I can't give this to you yet, horcrux or not."

"I know," Harry replied then he sat down in the chair before the large desk, and threw a file down in front of the Hokage. "Here."

"And what's this?"

"All the information I could gather on Orochimaru's spy." The green-eyed man replied, and watched as the Hokage went through the folder. "I wouldn't trust Kabuto's team mates either, neither the jounnin. This Mizuki sounds too much like someone Orochimaru would exploit. Apparently he was a teacher at the Academy until the year Naruto and co. started school, when he out of the blue wanted to take the Jounnin Exam. He took over as the instructor of Kabuto's team when the previous jounnin suddenly and conveniently decided to kick the bucket."

"Hmm." The Sandaime sighed and put the folder down. "Good work, Harry-san."

"Thank you." There was a short silence. "Well? Aren't you going to bring them all in for questioning? I know Ibiki's been itching to do some torturing."

"He is itching because you won't allow him to take a shot at Macmillan and that Malfoy fellow. While we're at it, how long are you going to keep Malfoy alive in the dungeons?"

"I'll take care of it soon."

"You said that all those years ago when you captured him, and you've said it ever since. It's not like you to put something off like this." The Sandaime pointed out dryly.

Harry chuckled slightly in embarrassment. "Yeah…. Well… er… I just can't stand the guy's whining, alright?"

"Neither can the guards."

"I promise to take care of both Malfoy and Macmillan when I get back. There, happy?"

The old man raised an eyebrow, then found a bit of paper and started writing. "I'll set it up as a mission for you when you do return. This way you can't get out of it yet again. Those two are taking up too much space." He finished writing, then rolled up the paper into a scroll, and then put it in a pile with similar scrolls at the edge of the table, waiting to be taken away and distributed.

Harry just grinned behind his mask and stood up. "Well, thank you for your time, Sandaime-san." He said with a small bow, and got ready to leave the room.

"Wait a minute, Harry-san," the Hokage called him back. "We haven't quite finished. Sit down, please. Something quite convenient has happened."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Apparently a very important meeting is to be held at this Hog-wart-us school, and Headmistress Mc-Gon-a-gall has asked for a couple of guards. Luckily this meeting is to happen exactly at the same time as the Chunnin Exam, and not even Orochimaru could protest in us sending off the only shinobi in Konoha who has any extensive knowledge of the Wand-Shinobi world."

Harry blinked. As far as he knew the meeting in question was supposed to be during Christmas – still three months away! – and that it was supposed to be held in Gringotts, the most secure place on earth. No one, not even Voldemort, would want to cripple the economy seeing as not only would the Light side suffer, but also the dark. And it was very weird that the meeting had been rescheduled. _'McGongall, you sly thing. You're starting to take after Albus in the ways of scheming.'_

The Hokage was looking at him, a mischievous twinkle in his old eyes. "Well, what do you say?"

The green-eyed man grinned behind his mask. "Mission accepted."

-x-x-x-x-

"_WHAT_!" the thundering roar washed over Konoha, making birds flee from their perches and people turn their heads towards the commotion.

"Don't make me repeat myself." The green-eyed man snapped.

"But… but…" Naruto protested weakly. "You won't be there to see me beat the crap out of everybody!"

"I've already asked Manji to tape it all for me."

"But-"

Harry sighed and stopped walking towards the gates. He looked down at the blond boy, and put his hand's on the boy's orange-clad shoulders. "I am sorry, Naruto. You know I would've loved to watch you go through your first Chunnin Exam, especially after all the tricks I taught you in the past few weeks, but I can't ignore a direct order from Hokage-sama himself."

Naruto sniffed, his blue eyes valiantly trying to keep the tears away. "But why you? Why couldn't someone else go? Manji-san knows everything you do! Or any of the others! Heck, even that sadist Ibiki! Why _you_!"

"Because I am the best." Harry said simply, and it was true. He _was_ the best man for the job, and not even his closest friends knew the exact reason. The Hokage didn't want anyone to start acting suspiciously and tip Orochimaru off, therefore he hadn't even brought Kabuto and his team in for questioning.

"You're a fool, old man!" Harry had told the Sandaime once he heard of this. "You're doing the same mistake Dumbledore did."

"My trust in Konoha's soul of fire is not misplaced." The Sandaime countered. "Besides, Konoha does not stand alone. The Mizukage has expressed a wish of coming to watch the exam. While we are at the topic, I don't want you to tell anyone about the impending attack. Do you promise me that?"

"… Hai, Hokage-san."

Harry shook his head to dispel the memories, gave the blond boy a one-armed hug and messed up the spiky hair. "Cheer up, Naruto, I'll be back before you know it. I'll bring you something from the Wand-Shinobi world, they have excellent-" he got no further as Naruto pulled away with a choked sob and disappeared down the street. Harry stared after the boy for a moment, then sighed again and walked to the gates of Konoha.

Itachi, Manji and Kakashi were waiting for him just inside the gates.

"Anything wrong?" Harry asked them.

"Nope," Kakashi replied and put away his copy of '_Icha Icha Paradise_' which he had been reading.

"We just wanted to say goodbye," Itachi said.

"And to give you this," Manji handed him a large, cloth-covered package.

Harry blinked as he accepted it, then he opened it. He stared down at the two revealed weapons. "Fuuma shuriken?" (Shadow shuriken?)

Itachi nodded. "It was supposed to be your birthday gift, but we figured this would be a better time to give them to you. Now you can practice even when you're away, and you won't have to borrow mine anymore either."

"I… thank you," it was all Harry could think of saying. He put the giant shuriken in his backpack, took a few steps out of the gates, then he stopped again and muttered something.

"Excuse us, but we didn't quite catch that." Manji said and walked closer along with the other two. "Can you repeat that?"

Most ANBU and jounnin knew that something was going to happen during the Chunnin Exams, something always happened, but none of them knew exactly what. Last time a group of missing-nins had attacked, the time before that the stadium had collapsed because it had been built on unsteady ground, and on and on it went. There were even bets going around of what would happen this time during the exams, but none of them were even close to the truth. And Harry couldn't leave these three in the dark.

He took a deep breath. "Orochimaru." He said. "Orochimaru is going to attack during the Chunnin Exam. He wants the sharingan, so any Uchiha should stay extra alert, and he seems interested in Naruto. Also watch out for any shinobi from Otogakure, and watch out for Team Thirteen, especially Yukishiro Kabuto and the jounnin-sensei Mizuki. I can't say any more, heck I've already said too much. I'll see you people when I return." Harry quickly took off into the trees, leaving three rather shocked shinobi behind.

He travelled throughout the night at top speed, sometimes even apparating across great distances, and on the second day he reached the border to Rice Field Country. By nightfall the same day he was inside Orochimaru's little hideout, and was talking with Tonks. She had given him a letter for him to deliver to Remus.

"It will be done." Harry said and tucked it away with the other letters he had been given by numerous others of his agents.

"You…" Tonks started. "You might want to check up in Kimimaro. He's in the cave we use as a sickbay right now." With that she disappeared into her own room.

Harry quickly walked to the sickbay to see what was wrong with Kimimaro. The bone-manipulator was lying in a bed, wires monitoring his condition attached to his chest, and he was pale as death. The green-eyed man walked over and put a gentle hand on the other's arm. "Kimimaro?"

No response.

"Kimmy-chan?"

There was a weak groan, before the young man managed to rasp out, "Harry-onii-sama?"

"It's me, Kimmy-chan. When did this happen?"

"… In Wind Country… two months ago…" Kimimaro breathed heavily. "I… I collapsed right… right in front of Oro-Orochimaru."

Harry noted at once the missing suffix of –sama to Orochimaru's name, and a small smirk formed on his lips for a second before it was gone once again. "And what about the potions I've been sending? Do you take them?"

"Ka-Kabuto-san says…" Kimimaro broke off into a coughing fit.

"Ah." Harry nodded in understanding as he poured a glass of water for the young man. Kabuto again. It seemed like Kabuto had his own agenda. Kabuto, quite obviously, wanted to be Orochimaru's favourite and right-hand man, and needed to get rid of all of Orochimaru's favourite 'pets' – this also probably meant that Harry could expect something soon as well.

"Thank you… Harry-onii-sama…" Kimimaro said as he finished drinking.

Harry put the glass back on the table, then, in a thoroughly Gryffindor-ish momentary whim, decided to take a deadly gamble. "Do you trust me, Kimmy-chan?"

"Ex-excuse m-"

"A simple 'yes' or 'no' is enough. Do you trust me?"

"With my life." Kimimaro breathed. His voice was weak but full of conviction.

"Good." Harry grinned. He hurried over to the cupboard to search for clothes, but at the back he found all the potions he had sent to Kimimaro over the months. Kabuto had probably wanted to study them at one point or another, and as he was the only one who bothered with the sickbay he had probably figured that they would be safe. _'Foolish.'_ Harry thought as he gathered the vials together and put them in his magically enhanced pouch, leaving one out for Kimimaro to drink now. Then he returned to where the boy himself was lying. "Here, drink this."

Kimimaro had some trouble swallowing the vile liquid, but some of his colour returned, and he was strong enough to more or less dress himself. Afterwards Harry bundled the young man up in a large blanket, and easily lifted him into his arms, then he left Orochimaru's hideout and set off towards Wind Country and the portal to the Wizarding World. He would have to take the long way about seeing as Orochimaru himself was currently impersonating the Kazekage, but it wouldn't be too bothersome.

"Harry-onii-sama," Kimimaro whispered over the wind. "Where are you taking me?"

"To someone who can heal you."

"But Kabuto-san said it was impossible, that no cure could be found."

Harry snorted. "Kabuto is an idiot, that's what. Kimimaro, you ought to know that once we do this you will not be able to return to Orochimaru or Otogakure. I will fake your death and you will be left behind in a new, foreign world. I won't be there, and I won't be able to visit, but you will have more chance of survival and I'll leave you in capable hands."

"I told you already, Harry-onii-sama, I trust you with my life." The bone-manipulator said then slowly sunk into sleep. It seemed as though the potion was wearing off.

Harry looked down at the pale young man, and sighed. _'I certainly hope you mean that Kimmy-chan, because I really don't want to have to kill you – and I will have to do just that if you show even an inkling of wanting to go to Orochimaru with my secret. Don't make my trust in you misplaced, there are too many lives at stake.'_

-x-x-x-x-

There, I'm done. Please tell me what you think!

Firstly about the issue with Naruto and the meeting with the Kyuubi no Kitsune. I figured that since he hadn't been alone all his life, Naruto wasn't quite as tough as he is in the manga/anime. If someone doesn't like this, then bleh to you! And Fuuma shuriken are the ones that Sasuke uses during the fight with Zabuza.

Harry will meet Gaara once he returns to the Shinobi Continent, and I think there'll be a meeting with the Akatsuki as well.

**Next chapter I'm moving this story to the Harry Potter section, and I think I'll let it stay there until the end, so beware!**

Thanks to:

Firehedgehog, arsenic-graffiti, Adnexus, Tombadgerlock, Sk8er7, Knives, FireAngel8723, Moon-Freak00, Surarrin, Morrolan, BasicallyAnIdiot, firmin, Honebar, dark672, Anave Lipad, The Insane Imortal Dragon, silvergrace3, kirallie, Shadowed Rains, cheerful-pinkstar, Homicidal Pink Penguin, VB, hittocerebattosai, SensiblyTainted, candidus-lupus-full Moon, Wiccachick2000, miako, sfgf, scythe195, Z-AKA Andrea-, cat, Ryan, Blezcat, and Suma goddess of darkness.


	17. Chapter 17

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer: **I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** _IMPORTANT_! From now on – since Harry's back in the Wizarding World – when Harry speaks Japanese it will be marked with the following: "-…-"

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Seventeen**

The monks that guarded the portal to and from the Shinobi Continent had been warned ahead of time that he was coming, and had opened the portal for him. This meant that Harry could just slip through the portal without having to use precious chakra to open it. Once on the other side he accepted the food rations the monks handed him, and he spent about an hour time talking with one of the monks in order to gather any news and also to rest a bit. Running non-stop through the desert that made up Wind Country, under the blazing hot sun would make any man tired.

"-They don't know that you are the one who is coming, then?-" the monk asked to make sure he had gotten all the facts in order, and Harry nodded. "-Why?-"

"-Because it's not yet time for Voldemort to know,-" the green-eyed man replied. "-Besides, I don't want to let them get their hopes up. I'm only staying in the Wizarding World for a couple of weeks at the most, then I'm going back to the Shinobi Continent. Now, is there anything I need to know about before I set out to Hogwarts?-"

"-It has been very quiet lately, and no news have reached us – by magical galleons or by the newspapers – but there's a rumour that the Ministry of Magic ordered a new defence for Hogwarts, but I do not know what that can be other than that it is very dangerous.-"

Harry hmm-ed. No news of this had ever reached him, but he supposed that it was so new that no one had had the time to contact him. With a sigh he put down the cup of herbal tea he had been nursing, and got up from the kneeling position he had been sitting in for the past hour. "-Either way, I thank you for everything, but now I must get going.-"

The monk nodded and stood as well. "-Just one more thing,-" he said. "-The young, pale man you brought with you. Who is he?-"

"-He… he is someone who needs help from the best healers of the Wizarding World, and is a part of my mission.-"

"-He is not someone you know then? Not someone dear to you?-"

Harry me the monks eyes calmly, face expressionless. "-No,-" he replied simply.

The monk nodded. "-I wish you good luck.-" He said and they bowed to each other shortly, and Harry hurried out of the temple and to the sickbay where he had left Kimimaro in the capable hands of the monks. The green-eyed man knew that he had soon outstayed his welcome here, for although the monks were polite and gave him food and water they still couldn't forgive him for those he had killed all those years ago when he had come this way in Orochimaru's company.

Kimimaro was asleep on a comfortable futon when Harry entered the room, and the monks that had been in there quickly cleared out clearly not wanting to be in the ANBU's company. Harry sighed sadly, but otherwise ignored the actions of the monks and focused on the pale young man. He didn't want to give Kimimaro another one of the potions he was carrying, because he had a feeling that he would be needing those even more once they got to this new security measure around Hogwarts. Harry woke the younger man, and after Kimimaro had gotten as comfortable as he could on Harry's back in a piggy-back style, the green-eyed man set off at top speed and was out of the sight of the monks in seconds.

The journey went fast as Harry both ran and apparated. The first time he had apparated Kimimaro had been shocked out of his exhausted sleep, and had fallen off Harry's back in an attempt to defend himself. Afterwards the bone-manipulator had made Harry promise to shout out every time he wanted to apparate so that the younger man knew what to expect.

"-Don't worry, Kimmy-chan, you'll get used to it soon.-" Harry told him, a grin hidden underneath his mask.

"-I assure you, Harry-onii-sama, I will _never_ get used to something like _that_!-" Kimimaro replied and tried to get to his feet. However, he found that he was too weak to even kneel properly, and he sighed. "-Perhaps you should leave me here, Harry-onii-sama. I'm just slowing you down, and if we get into trouble I will just be a nuisance, and… -" he cut himself off when a bottle of potion landed in his lap. He picked it up and looked up at the masked man, a question in his eyes. "-Didn't you say that we'd need it more later on?-"

"-Doesn't matter,-" Harry replied. "-If we can't get to Hogwarts undetected, then we'll stride through the front gates with out heads held high. Either way, I won't leave you here, nor will I let you die – now or later – so drink that up and we can be on our way.-"

"-Where are we?-" Kimimaro asked once he had swallowed the potion and waited for it to kick in.

"-We're in Bulgaria right now,-" Harry kneeled down so that the bone-manipulator could get on. "-We're more or less halfway to Hogwarts, and it has only taken us two days to get here. This is mostly because of the apparating.-"

"-So it is good for something other than making you feel like you're being squeezed to death?-"

The green-eyed man chuckled and set off again. "-Indeed it is.-"

"-What is our next sto-_yawn_-hop?-" Kimimaro yawned in the middle of the sentence and rested his head on Harry's shoulder.

"-Hungary. Afterwards we're stop in Switserland and then France. From there we'll cross the English Channel from Calais. Once we're on British ground we'll move northwards to Hogwarts. We should be at the school in two or three days if everything goes as planned-"

"-Hmm, that's… nice… onii… -sama…-" Kimimaro had fallen asleep again.

Harry smiled yet he was also worried about the young man's health. He needed to get the bone-manipulator to Madame Pomfrey as soon as possible, and he could only hope that the newest security measure around Hogwarts was equally as bad and disastrous as all the others that the Fudge-Ministry had tried to install over the years. However, after Rufus Scrimegeour had taken over as Minister of Magic after Fudge, and Gawain Robards had taken over as the Head of the Aurors once Scrimegeour became Minister, things had been looking up in the Ministry, and Harry very much doubted that they would make the same mistakes as Fudge had done.

'_I wonder who replaced Madam Bones as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Hopefully it's someone who knows their job.'_ Harry thought, then shook his head as if to get rid of those thoughts. _'I'll find out once I get there, for now I need to concentrate on the journey itself.'_

-x-x-x-x-

Harry stared, his mouth open underneath his ANBU mask. He stared, stared and stared some more. He just couldn't help but stand there like an idiot with Kimimaro still riding piggy-back. when the monk had told him that Hogwarts had a new defence set up, the guy hadn't been kidding! The Ministry had finally done something right, but for once Harry wished that the red-tape bureaucracy had taken its usual long time to decide something, because this new defence was going to cause him more delay than he had time for, and more trouble than he would ever have wanted to deal with! Not only that, but it was going to take so much time to get through this particular defence – not to say the _power_ he would need – that he doubted he would get through unnoticed. Which of course was the entire point with the defence, but Harry couldn't help but hate it.

'_I'm going to kill whomever it was that suggested to use the maze from the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament as a defence for Hogwarts!'_ the green-eyed ANBU groaned as he stared across the miles upon miles of insanely tall and dangerous hedges. The maze even encompassed the Forbidden Forest and the lake, and it was almost impossible to get through. _'No doubt they've added new creatures and enchantments in there since I went through it the last time. It's going to be hell!'_ Harry nearly whimpered as memories of his first time in the maze assaulted him. One time had been enough for several lifetimes!

"-Harry-onii-sama, what's wrong?-" Kimimaro asked. He had been woken by the older man's groan, and had spent the past couple of minutes staring across the maze and at the castle at the other end. But the chocked sound Harry had made just a second ago, had woken him from his thoughts. Never had he seen his 'big brother' this reluctant to go through something. The man sounded almost… scared? "-What's wrong with a simple maze?-" the young man wondered.

"-That maze is not a simple anything!-" Harry replied with a sigh. "-_That_ is the worst thing that could have happened to be in our way!-"

"-Why? Is it filled with traps?-"

"-Worse than that. You will soon learn that very little is as it seems here in the world of the Wand Shinobi, Kimmy-chan.-"

Kimimaro blinked in surprise at the grave seriousness in Harry's voice. "-You've been in there before, haven't you?-" he concluded rather than asked.

"-Once, and that was enough.-" Came the short reply.

"-How old were you?-" the bone-manipulator asked. Kimimaro had never seen the older man like this before, and it worried him. Harry-onii-sama must've been _very_ young for something like a simple, trap-filled maze to make such a lasting impression.

"-Look over there,-" Harry ignored the question and pointed to a spot roughly a bit left to their current location, and about halfway through the maze. There the maze didn't seem to be quite as dark as everywhere else, and there seemed to be a small clearing there. "-That's the only place we'll be able to rest once we enter the maze, I'm sure of it. And we _will_ need all the rest we can get.-"

"-Aa.-" Kimimaro nodded in understanding even though Harry couldn't see him.

"-You see those trees barely sticking out of the hedge right in front of us?-"

"-Hai. They stretch to the right of our location and go all around the castle in a semi-circle from what I can figure out.-"

"-Correct. That was once known as the Forbidden Forest, and there is a very good reason for that name. Luckily we seem to have come to one of the few spots where the forest is at its smallest, but it's still going to be difficult getting through it _and_ the maze at the same time. Heaven knows what we might find in there.-"

"-Demons?-"

"-Amongst other things, therefore I want you to keep as close to me as possible once we enter. And let me deal with anything that might show up.-"

"-But how am I supposed to get through it when I can barely stay awake as it is?-" The pale young man yawned as if to underline what he had said.

Harry sighed and started jumping from ledge to ledge in order to get down from the cliff they had been standing on. "-This is why I didn't give you the potions before now. We have eight bottles left, which means that you will drink up three of them before we enter the maze and one whilst we're inside it. We will rest as long as we can once we reach the halfway-spot, and repeat the dosages for the last part of the journey to Hogwarts.-"

"-Why do you think they placed a safe-spot halfway through the maze? It's supposed to be a defence mechanism, isn't it?-"

"-I have a hunch that they _didn't_.-" Harry replied, a small twitch of his mouth indicating his quick burst of amusement. "-If I remember the topography of the land correct, then that spot lies very close to the lake which laid opposite of the Forbidden Forest thusly giving Hogwarts two natural defences. And there's only one thing that I can think of that would be able to stay good in the midst of this accursed maze.-"

"-Oh?-"

"-A tomb.-"

"-What? A _tomb_!-" Kimimaro blinked. How the devil was a tomb supposed to do that?

"-You'll see once we get there.-" The green-eyed man had now reached the bottom of the cliff, and the hedge rose in front of them at least fifty feet. It was dark, gloomy, and unnaturally silent, and the only thing that testified to the fact that the sun still shined on the little spot between the cliff-wall and the hedge, were the small, pale flowers that were still growing in the autumn cold. "-We'll take a quick rest and eat something before we go in.-"

Kimimaro nodded as he was gently put down on the ground. The young man stared up at the enormous hedge, and suddenly the maze didn't seem quite as normal as it had from atop the cliff. A foreboding feeling made itself known in his stomach, and he shuddered as an unnaturally cold gust of wind came out of the maze, bringing with it dead leaves and grass. Having been placed right by the cliff so that he could lean against it, Kimimaro could see into the maze by the small opening existing in the hedge. This was the opening the two of them would no doubt use to get in, he was sure of it. Further into the darkness of the maze he could barely see a gnarled tree, twisted and rough. It was leafless and had so many twisting branches that to the bone-manipulator it seemed like it had been planted upside-down with the roots sticking into the air.

Harry walked along the edge of the maze, trying to get a feel of whatever could be found inside. He quickly discovered that there were enchantments in place which made his magic/chakra go nuts, which meant the would have to keep the usage of it to a minimum. Not being sure how the spell or technique would end up whilst being in mortal danger, was not a good thing; therefore he opted to transfigure and conjure as many weapons as he could before he entered the maze. And he was careful to share his discoveries with Kimimaro, making extra sure that the young man understood that things weren't as they seemed in the maze.

"-Are you ready, Kimmy-chan?-" the green-eyed ANBU asked as he kneeled beside the younger man, and held up three bottles of potion and a Food Pill.

"-Hai!-" Kimimaro nodded, ate the pill, then started forcing himself to swallow the three vile-tasting potions. "-_Yuck_! Why couldn't they at least make them taste better?-"

"-You will have to ask that question to someone else, because I have no idea.-" Harry replied, then helped the younger man stand up. Together they walked up to the hedge and stood at the small opening for a minute. "-Remember my instructions, and tell me the moment you start feeling weak again, Kimimaro.-"

"-Aa.-"

"-Well, unless you have any other questions, then we need to get going.-" The older man gripped his wand in one hand and a kunai in the other, took a deep breath and ran into the maze with Kimimaro following nigh on his heels.

Everything went well until they came to the crossroads by the tree which Kimimaro had seen from outside the maze. At that point the bone-manipulator seemed to hear something, slowed down, stopped and turned around only to have his eyes grow large as they watched the way they had come into the maze disappear. The hedges grew together with an insane speed, new ones sprouted from the ground, branches twined together, and within seconds the way out was securely shut.

"-Harry-onii-sama!-" the young man exclaimed. "-The way out is gone! Harry-onii-sama!-" he looked around frantically, but couldn't see the older man anywhere. The darkness of the maze was starting to push in on him, reminding him of the little stone-cell where he had spent the first six years of his life, and his voice didn't seem to carry at all. It made him feel small and alone, and it wasn't a good feeling. He had hoped never to have to feel it again.

He yelped as he felt something sneak up his leg, and looked down. It was a root. The roots of the tree were crawling towards him, were trying to get a hold of him. Kimimaro growled and started jumping about and hacking at the roots, a visible enemy he could easily deal with. Soon enough the ground around him was littered with wriggling bits of root and wine, and he started running again hoping to find some clue of which way Harry had gone.

He hadn't taken more than three steps, when the tree shot its branches out and grabbed him around the chest, pinning his arms to his body. Kimimaro cursed loudly and tried to wriggle free, or to make a hand-seal with one hand, or even to grab another kunai, but the grip was too strong for that, and the young bone-manipulator soon found himself being dragged closer and closer to the tree itself, and more and more roots shot up from the ground and grabbed a hold of him.

"-Let… me… go!-" Kimimaro growled and tried to plant his feet on the ground, then used a small bit of chakra to firmly stick them there. Not that it helped much. Sure, it slowed down the tree's dragging, but his feet made deep skidding marks on the ground, and it hurt like hell when the tree pulled harder and made its grip even tighter. One large root lifted itself from the ground, and Kimimaro could see the deep, dark opening it had revealed. The roots were pulling him in that direction, and he had a feeling that once he went in there he would never come out again.

"-Harry-onii-sa-!-" he tried shouting for his adoptive big brother again, but at that point three thick, dirty roots wrapped themselves securely around his face and mouth, and it came out like a muffled yelp. _'I doubt even an Inuzuka dog would be able to hear that!'_ he thought to himself as panic began to rise up in him. He was getting closer and closer to the gaping hole, and the tree was putting more and more force into dragging him there, as if it was eager to eat him up, and Kimimaro was just getting desperate enough to use his bloodlimit enhanced by Orochimaru's Seal to get away, when the large root which was nearly crushing his ribcage suddenly let go, a kunai embedded in its gnarled form, and the tree seemed to let out a sort of hissing, high-pitched groaning. Rather like an old door creaking or something similar.

A rain of senbon needles, kunai and shuriken followed, and the tree reluctantly started to loosen its grip. In the end the last of the roots retreated, and Kimimaro jumped to his feet and stumbled away from the tree. He was panting and was shaking slightly. Never before had he been attacked by a tree, and not even Konoha's infamous Training Ground 44 the Forest of Death could compare – at least not in Kimimaro's opinion.

A familiar hand landed on the young man's shoulder, and Harry's voice came from his right. "-Are you alright, Kimmy-chan?-"

"-Ha-hai! Just shaken.-"

Harry nodded. "-It doesn't surprise me. From now on do not look back, no matter what you hear.-" He gave Kimimaro a comforting pat on the back, then headed off in what seemed to Kimimaro a completely random direction.

"-Ano, Harry-onii-sama, we came from _that_ way, so shouldn't we be going _that_ way?-" the young man wondered and pointed in the two directions he was talking about.

Harry turned towards him, his wolf-mask seeming to grin horribly in the gloom of the maze. "-I thought you would have learned the lesson by now considering what just happened, but I will tell you anyway: do not trust the maze.-" Kimimaro nodded to this and this time he made sure to keep as close to Harry as he could.

The rest of the journey went in the same manner. They encountered creatures that Kimimaro had never even imagined in his wildest dreams. The maze seemed to be hell bent on hindering them as much as it could, but Harry never seemed to lose his way, not even once. He led them unerringly straight towards the safe spot, and no matter how many twists, turns, or whatever tricks the maze could come up with were thrown at them, it didn't take more than a few seconds before they were on the right path again. Kimimaro knew that he alone could never have made it even halfway to the safe spot, and his admiration for his big brother only seemed to grow as they progressed through the maze. Nothing seemed to surprise Harry much, and everything was promptly dealt with such speed and skill that the green-eyed man had never showed before in Orochimaru's presence. Which got Kimimaro to thinking. Was Harry-onii-sama really as loyal to Orochimaru as he had always appeared to be? There was evidence both for and against this, and right now he couldn't make up his mind.

Harry handed the fourth bottle of potion to Kimimaro once he noticed that the younger man was lagging behind. Other than that they did their best to avoid the traps and pitfalls of the maze, and Harry was lucky enough to avoid most of the places with the nastier enchantments. He was using his ability to sense chakra/magic and he was following the thread of the only 'good' chakra unerringly towards the lake and the place where safe spot was. So far they had been lucky, but he was sure that Murphy's law would once again kick in at any time now, so it wasn't much of a shock for him when they came to a small, round clearing in the maze. It wasn't the clearing they were headed for, it was dark and gloomy, and what seemed to be dozens of possible paths went in every direction imaginable. The worst thing was that there was some sort of enchantment on the place, and Harry couldn't sense the 'good' chakra anymore.

'_Fuck!'_ the green-eyed man cursed silently as he turned in a circle. Both he and Kimimaro were panting and sweating, and took this small chance to get their breaths back, but they both knew that they couldn't stay in one place for very long.

"-Harry-onii-sama, which way do we take now?-" Kimimaro asked.

"-I'm not sure.-" Harry replied, and stared around worriedly. "-I can't sense it anymore.-" He whispered, the worry seeping into his voice as well. The feeling of the 'good' chakra was the only thing which had kept him from panicking and losing his head more than once in the maze, and now he could feel the coldness of the maze seeping into him not unlike the effects of a dementor as it got stronger. Harry froze. Those cold feelings weren't only his rising panic, but also the true effects of the dementors, and they were getting closer. They were surrounded in a virtual death-trap.

"-We need to get out of here. We need to get out of here _now_!-"

"-But which way!-" the young bone-manipulator demanded. He had encountered dementors only two times before, and he was not eager to do that again. Those two encounters had left horrifying, lasting impressions with him, and he still occasionally had nightmares. "-Harry-onii-sama! _Which way_!-"

"-I don't know! Give me a second!-" Harry was starting to seriously feel the effects of the nearing dementors, but he did his best to push those away and closed his eyes and concentrated. He concentrated as much as he could and used an Earth jutsu to send small sensory waves of chakra through the ground in every direction. The hedge felt like a malevolent and dark living being, but he ignored it. the next thing he picked up was the spiders that were placed somewhere to their right. The few trees of the Forbidden Forest that still came this far into the maze, had generally the same feeling as the maze itself. But then he felt the cold nothingness of the dementors, and he started zoning in on the one path from which no dementor would emerge.

The second he had zoomed in on the correct path, he was running down it almost at full speed with Kimimaro following to the best of his abilities. They both felt it when they passed the dementors, and they both shuddered but kept on running. It wouldn't be long before the dementors realised that their prey was gone, and then they would spread out all over trying to find them. How the Ministry had managed to get a hold of dementors that weren't in league with Voldemort, was a mystery best left for another day.

"-Is this the correct way to the safe spot?-" Kimimaro asked as they ran.

Harry shook his head. "-No, I've lost the direction, I don't even know if it's left or right!-"

"-Wha-_yaaaaargh_!-"

The green-eyed man skidded to a stop, whirled around and quickly went back to help Kimimaro up. The bone manipulator had stumbled over something which looked like a constantly moving root, but once Harry got closer he saw what it actually was and he blinked in surprise.

"-… dancing… mush-… rooms?-" Kimimaro gaped.

And it was indeed true. A line of mushrooms went from one side of the path to the other, disappearing underneath the hedges of the maze, and each and every mushroom was moving forwards to some tune or other which only it alone could hear. The line went from the two men's right and towards their left, and Harry decided to take a dangerous gamble. A few hand-seals later and he – putting most of his power and concentration into the technique – nearly roared: "**Katon: Karyuu Endan!**" (_Fire Element: Fire-dragon Flame Blast!_)

A dragon-shaped, powerful jet of flame erupted from Harry's mouth and totally fried the hedge in front of them, then the next hedge, and the hedge after that and the one after that again, and all the way until they could see a glittering tomb of marble on the other side.

The two of them hurriedly jumped through the holes in the hedges, using all their skill and speed to keep the re-growing hedges from capturing them in the middle of the hole, or the waving roots and branches from wrapping around them and pulling them to their deaths.

"-Quickly now!-" Harry panted and pulled Kimimaro along. "-Don't stumble!-"

"-The last one!-" Kimimaro panted and they jumped through the rapidly disappearing hole. The pale, young man landed hard on the ground, and rolled a couple of times before he stopped, but Harry wasn't that lucky. He had been only a second behind Kimimaro making sure that the younger man got through safely, but that had been enough for the hedge to grow dense enough o catch him in its net of branches and leaves, and right now it was slowly swallowing him up.

"-Harry-onii-sama!-" Kimimaro shouted in horror. He could barely make out the form of the older man, and he quickly got to his feet and grabbed a hold of Harry's arm. Doing his best to ignore the vines slowly wrapping around his own arms and legs, the bone-manipulator started pulling with all his might, and slowly Harry emerged again.

"-Thank you, Kimmy-chan.-" Harry said when he was finally free. "-Luckily the 'goodness' of the chakra in this place has affected those hedges to some degree, otherwise I would have been a goner.-"

The two of them turned and surveyed their surroundings. The hedges surrounding the little safe haven were a lighter green than the others, the grass was littered with countless flowers, all of them yellow, and most of them resembling Sherbet Lemons. And in the middle of it all stood a crypt of white marble, and glittered kindly in the moonlight. Harry sighed happily and allowed himself to relax. He went over to the crypt and sat down with his back against it, and Kimimaro followed his lead.

"-Who's tomb is this?-" the younger man wondered. "-The person must've been very powerful in life if he can affect his surroundings in death.-"

The green-eyed ANBU pulled off his mask, and smiled fondly as he ran a hand through the yellow flowers. "-He was.-"

"-Who was it?-"

"-My mentor and a very wise man.-" Harry replied. "-This is the final resting place of Albus Dumbledore.-"

-x-x-x-x-

There, please tell me what you think.

As said sometimes earlier in this story: I am keeping as close to the _Naruto_-manga as I can, though things are still going to be slightly different here and there. Which means that yes, the Sandaime is going to die, and yes, Tsunade will come into the story soon enough. About pairings, well, I don't know quite frankly. I mean, Naruto & Co. are only 12 or so at this point in time, and the only ones who might be interested in others in _that_ way would be Gai's team. I'll see, not sure yet, but what I can say is that Harry and Ginny will NEVER hook up whilst in one of my stories. I really don't like that pairing, it's too much like James and Lily for my comfort. But Ginny will be coming into the story soon as well.

I just noticed that Kimimaru is spelled with a U and not an O, and I apologise for that, but I'm too lazy to go back and fix it so nyah!

Um, quite frankly, I hadn't thought it would take me this much time to get to Hogwarts proper. I thought I would do it in this chapter, but realised that it would end up far too long. So next chapter we finally meet the Order of the Phoenix again, and hear what's been going on in the Wizarding World and at Hogwarts, and last but not least what the devil Voldemort's been up to, so stay tuned!

Thanks to:

Adnexus, kirallie, dark672, Knives, Quicksilver4, Firehedgehog, CJ, hittocerebattosai, Tombadgerlock, Frank Moonshadow, Fattyaddy-99, The Insane Imortal Dragon, Windsbane, BasicallyAnIdiot, Z-AKA Andrea-, Morrolan, Tokyo no Ecchi, Gato-sama, Miako, Hinatafanboy, someone100001, Fan of Great Works, cheerful-pinkstar, scythe195, candidus-lupus-full Moon, Honebar, FireAngel8723, Tessa-Chan, 2stupid, dark672, SensiblyTainted, silvergrac3, fanatic (angelsdawn1004, RBMIfan, yllom21, The Itch, Deh Vap, Midnight Sorrows, Cyberwings, Shea, iluvwillturner, and Matt and T.K.


	18. Chapter 18

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Hmm, not much to say except that there's a LONG chapter ahead. Enjoy and please review!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Eighteen**

Harry and Kimimaro rested by Dumbledore's tomb for the next two days. This served two purposes. One: they got a well-earned, long, delicious rest. And two: anyone who might have seen the activity of the maze whilst the two of them had been travelling through it, would most likely think the intruders to be dead already which meant that the security wouldn't be too great. Besides, Harry had the rare wish to uphold a Hogwarts tradition: the fact that something _always_ happened on Halloween. It would make for a great, dramatic entrée for him, and it would be fun to scare 'em all to death. He couldn't help but chuckle evilly at the thought of all those terrified small faces, and he was quite sure he could make several Hufflepuffs faint as well. It would be _sooo_ much fun!

Kimimaro simply stared at him with a slightly worried/freaked out expression, and decided not to ask. The last couple of days had really been an eye-opener for the young bone-manipulator. Previously he had thought that Orochimaru was the force which made the world go around, and whatever the Snake Sannin said had to be the truth. Harry had always been the prodigy grandson whom Orochimaru adored, and who always got the most difficult tasks and all the praise. He had believed that Orochimaru had raised Harry-onii-sama ever since Orochimaru's daughter had died, just like he had taken in and raised Kimimaro and countless other street urchins.

Well, now he knew that it wasn't true at all. Harry hadn't even known that he had a grandfather until he was 17 years old, and Orochimaru wasn't the benign god of all things either. The Snake Sannin wasn't all-knowing and all-powerful, and Harry-onii-sama wasn't as loyal and golden as he had believed. It was quite a shock to suddenly have the illusions stripped from his eyes, but he would adapt to it with time. Shinobi were nothing if not adaptable.

"-Well, are you ready to set out on the last part?-" Harry asked the younger man who nodded determinately. "-Good. Here's the potions – remember: same dosages as on the journey here – and now for what we will do when we reach the castle. The first thing we're going to do is to drop you off at the infirmary in the slightly-rough but wonderful care of Madame Pomfrey, afterwards I shall go and announce to the Headmistress that we have arrived.-"

Kimimaro nodded and forced the potions down his throat, then stood up and got ready. "-Lead the way, Harry-onii-sama.-" He said, and followed when the green-eyed man set off. The journey went as could be expected, but the bone-manipulator noticed that when they got closer and closer to the majestic castle, that there were fewer and fewer dangerous beasts, and the spells and enchantments got weaker and weaker.

"-It's just in case one of the students wander into it,-" Harry suddenly said, as if he had read the younger man's thoughts. "-My bet is that the maze is programmed to head any students off before they get too far into it. It probably leads them back out, or just makes them wait in a semi-safe spot until a teacher is alerted by the charms and comes looking.-"

"-Do the children stay here during their entire education, or do they go home?-"

"-They go home during the summer months.-"

"-How do they get through the maze then?-"

Harry shrugged. "-They probably open up a safe passage for the carriages to get through, I'm not sure.-" The two of them had gotten out of the maze by now, and Hogwarts loomed over them, her towers seeming to touch the sky. The Hogwarts-banner which always stood at the tallest tower of them all, was waving and snapping as the wind began to pick up, and a second later the two men on the ground could feel it blowing about them. It was cold as hell, and carried the scent of water with it, and the dark clouds overhead hid the moon and the stars.

"-Hmm, looks like a storm is brewing, a powerful one at that. Good thing we got out of the maze when we did, it would've been total hell to be trapped in _there_ with the storm raging over us.-" Harry muttered, then sighed. "-Well, we better get going. Follow me.-" With that he was off through the shadows surrounding the castle, with Kimimaro hard on his heels.

They ran one quarter around the castle, then Harry suddenly jumped up and started running horizontally across the walls. He used chakra to stick to the wall, and – after making sure that Kimimaro was still able to follow – jumped from one wall to the next, running to and fro and across rooftops. He avoided running across any windows seeing as one couldn't jump whilst running horizontally god knew how many feet up in the air, otherwise one would – quite obviously – fall to a humiliating and hard death. No, one limb always had to be in contact with the surface one was running across, and couldn't let go before the other had been put down. It was annoying and slower than the speed they could have used if they had been running on the ground, but after so many years of being shinobi, Harry was used to it and adjusted his movements accordingly without a second thought.

They reached the last roof before they would have to take what was – even to shinobi – a rather large leap to get to the outer wall of the Hospital Wing, and they stopped at the far end of the roof for a quick breather. Kimimaro was panting heavily, the potion almost having run out, and Harry quickly crouched down so that the young man could get on for yet another piggy-back ride.

"-Harry-onii-sama!-" the pale bone-manipulator protested. "-I can handle this last leap!-"

Harry raised an eyebrow behind his mask, and just stared at the young man.

"-I can!-"

The green-eyed shinobi sighed. Kimimaro hadn't been this stubborn and stupid since the last time he had tried to show off his skills to Harry. He had just learned to control an aspect of his bloodline techniques, and had nearly killed himself in the process. Harry, being more of a hands-on guy and living by the principle of 'do or die, sink or swim', had simply stood there and watched as the 12 year old had struggled to perform the technique, then had caught the boy when he had fainted halfway through.

"-Kimimaro, just get on.-" Harry ordered as he felt the first couple of raindrops on the exposed skin of his shoulders and arms.

Kimimaro grumbled and pouted. "-It's uncomfortable. You katana is constantly poking my thigh, stomach, chest and shoulder. Sometimes the hilt even pokes me in the face!-"

"-Being poked by the katana will feel like heaven compared to five minutes with me and a senbon needle, now _get_ _ON_!-" Harry snarled, and Kimimaro hurried to obey. Harry smirked as he made sure that the young man was on, then started running across the rooftop. He raised his voice rarely, but when he did everyone obeyed with the speed of light.

On the last step Harry sent chakra to his legs to aid them in the jump itself, and then they were flying through the air. They landed easily on the wall, and Kimimaro hissed at the impact even though Harry had done his best to keep the bone-manipulator from being jarred too much. This only cemented the fact that the potion was running out in the green-eyed man's brain, and he hoped to high heavens that Madame Pomfrey hadn't broken her routine and decided to eat in the Great Hall tonight.

It was raining quite heavily now, thunder shaking the very walls of the castle, and lightning lighting everything up in a distracting and blinding manner, and therefore Harry was quite happy when he found an open window to slip through. He landed in a room where only the fireplace gave off light, and from the pictures, medical books, the large desk in the corner and the personalised feel of the entire place, he supposed he was in Madame Pomfrey's office.

Moving swiftly towards the door, Harry opened it a crack and strained his senses to find out if there were any other people there. He easily picked up on Madame Pomfrey herself, the mint-like smell of her hospital-clothes reaching his nose easily. There were also three other people there, all students. One was lying on a far-off bed, fast asleep, whilst another two were chatting with the nurse herself.

"Now," Madame Pomfrey said, "I have done what I can for you. The wrist will be well enough by tomorrow, but try to keep from overtaxing it in the next couple of days. Get someone else to carry your books for you, and so on. And no, Mr Friesner, I will not remove the pain for you."

"But how can I play in the next Quidditch match if I can't use my wrist!" a boy's voice demanded. "I'm a bloody Beater!"

"You can't, Mr Friesner, and that's final. The world will not end, and your team does have spare Beaters if I am correct. Now, get going otherwise you will miss the feast, and don't let me see you here again tonight or tomorrow just because you ate too much candy."

"Yes, Madame Pomfrey." The boy, Friesner, said dejectedly.

"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey." Came another voice, this one a girl's, and it was followed by two pairs of footsteps, then the doors of the infirmary opening and closing.

"Children!" the nurse grumbled fondly, then her footsteps and the accompanying sounds indicated that she was starting to clean up her tools and whatever else she had had to get for the boy's injury.

Harry stepped silently and like a shadow from the office, and walked up to the nurse that was putting things away in a closet. He stood silently behind her, waiting for her to put away all the dangerous, breakable stuff before he announced his presence with a polite clearing of the throat.

The poor nurse yelped, jumped into the air and whirled around, then squeaked in surprise upon seeing such a weirdly-dressed and masked figure standing right behind her. When nothing happened, she started relaxing and clutched her hand over her heart. "Good heavens how you scared me!" she breathed. "You must be the help which the Headmistress sent for, aye?"

Harry nodded. He had long since decided that he would not reveal his identity to anyone except a few chosen people. Unfortunately for Madame Pomfrey, she was not one of those, and therefore she simply believed him to be one of these mysterious Shinobi-Wizards that those traders who had been on the Shinboi Continent had seen and talked about.

"Right then! Wonderful! You gave me quite the scare! How did you get in here without alerting any-?"

"Healer-san," Harry cut her off, "my comrade is deathly sick. We found no cure for it on the Shinobi Continent, and the Wand-Wizards are our last hope. Please take care of him." After spending so much time in a different country and speaking a different language, Harry didn't even have to worry about someone recognising his voice or wondering why he didn't have an accent. The fact was that none of the people here had heard his voice in almost 18 years, and after speaking Japanese for so long, he had naturally attained an accent.

Madame Pomfrey blinked, then went into healer-mode. "Right! Put the dear down on a bed, my good man, and explain to me the symptoms."

Harry requested a private room for Kimimaro, then put the bone-manipulator down on the bed once he was shown to one. All the while Madame Pomfrey bustled around, gathering her stuff and quizzing the wolf-masked ANBU on everything. Harry told her of Kimimaro's ability to use his own bones as weapons, he told her about Orochimaru's Seal – although only the vital information – and he briefly explained how the shinobi used their magic and the chakra pathways running through the body. He then left the nurse to her work, but extracted an Unbreakable Vow from her to not speak to anyone about these things unless Harry himself had given his consent and was there to supervise in person. Then he left the infirmary and hurried to the Great Hall.

'_I see that the feast is still in high swing.'_ Harry mused to himself as he crouched upside-down on the ceiling of the Entrance Hall, and stared at the doors of the Great Hall. He could hear the chatter and shouts of the joyous students, and couldn't help but smile fondly at the feelings and memories this evoked in him. It reminded him exactly why he was sacrificing so much in the fight against Voldemort, and he grabbed onto that like a lifeline. Several times during the past two decades he had nearly lost himself and his reason for fighting, he had nearly become another Voldemort or Orochimaru. However, every single time his group of Angsters had brought him back from the brink of insanity, Kami-sama bless them all.

Shaking his head to dispel such thoughts and musings, Harry reached behind himself and into the utility pouch hanging from his waist. He thanked heaven for the Expansion charms Hermione had put on it as he pulled out his ANBU Squad Commander cloak. There were so many things that he needed, and before he'd have had to carry them on his back in a backpack. Now he could just stuff it all into the pouch, and have his back free for other things.

The ANBU Squad Commander cloak was a pure white as opposed to the beige cloak of the ANBU Captains and the plain, black one of the normal ANBU member. He put it on – a bit difficult when hanging upside-down – and pulled up the hood, then walked across the ceiling towards the doors of the Great Hall and waited for his chance to enter unnoticed. It came a few minutes later when a group of Hufflepuff students exited, and he snuck in faster than the eye could perceive, then hid up in the rafters hidden by both the shadows and the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall.

'_The only sad thing is that now I have five Hufflepuffs less to scare,'_ the green-eyed man thought with a childish pout. _'Then I better make sure it's a damn good scare for the rest of them.'_ He decided, a grin once again flashing across his hidden face, then went back to observing the madness below.

Amazingly enough the population of the Hogwarts students seemed only to have grown since he had last set foot in the castle, and from all reports the other magical schools were losing students steadily like a leaking bucket, and more than one had been forced to close down. The sudden rise in students had forced the Board of Governors to hire more professors, and each subject had at least two professors at any given time; some of the most popular subjects, like Defence Against the Dark Arts, had to split up into two classrooms. The reason for this insanity was that a rumour had gotten out that the Headmistress of Hogwarts still retained contact with _the_ Harry Potter, and everyone seemed to figure that just because of that that Hogwarts was the best and safest place to be.

'_It's logical in a weird way. Well, this **is** the Wizarding World…'_ Harry mused as he observed. The House tables were full to the brim, the Teacher's table was full to the brim, and there was hardly anything left of the comfortable space which he remembered from his own schooldays. _'There seems to be a limit to what even Hogwarts is able to do, bless her. Now, how to make my grand entrance? Hmm…'_

As he was mulling over the best way to scare everyone to their deaths – which would, quite frankly, work against everything they had done to stop this war – Harry noticed another thing. All over the Great Hall there were students who had a piece of cloth either tied around their head, around an arm, or around their necks, and on these there was a shiny pin in the different shapes of the Hidden Villages. He at once recognised several Konoha-shaped pins, the hourglass of the Hidden Sand, the rocks of the Hidden Stone, the vertical zigzagging lines of the Hidden Grass, and even the star of the Hidden Star Village. There was also the symbol of the Mist in there as well. If it wasn't bad enough, then even three of the _teachers_ had a Hidden Village pin fastened on their collar!

'_Someone from the caravan has been blabbing.'_ He growled and green eyes narrowed dangerously when he spotted the shuriken and kunai holsters the students carried. _'And making good money as well, I'll bet. Making untrained brats think that being a shinobi is some glorified profession, and giving them sharp, lethal tools to boot! Just wait until I get my hands on that person!'_

As he watched an argument broke out between several of the students. A group that wore the Hidden Stone symbol – all from different Houses – had gotten into an argument over something or other with an equally mixed group of students who proudly wore the Konoha symbol on their foreheads, and Harry felt a weird sense of déjà vu, his mind thrown back to the Stone-Leaf war for a moment.

"So you're saying that Kongohakakure is weak!" A student with the Leaf-emblem demanded angrily.

'_Kongohakakure?'_ Harry wondered. _'Never heard of it. Is it a new Hidden Village or… Or is he mispronouncing the name?' _his mind froze for a second and he blinked in surprise. He had a horrible feeling that it was a mispronunciation, and a terrible one. It was humiliating!

"Yeah! You bloody idiots are taking over the entire market and all our customers!" A student with the Stone-emblem shouted right back. "No one wants to ask us from Stone to do anymore missions! We haven't had a shopping-mission for the past week, and lets not even get started on the lack of baby-sitting missions!"

A small tick was starting to show itself right above Harry's eye. It was the only sign of his rising annoyance.

"It's not our fault that you are overpriced!" another with the Leaf-emblem shouted.

"We are forced to have higher prices because of you! Before we would ask fro a sickle or two, but ever since you came in we have to ask for a full galleon!"

The tick was starting to become larger and more frequent.

"It's not our faults that your people-skills are severely lacking!"

"Bastards!"

And soon Harry's entire eyebrow was twitching rather like something from one of those anime-cartoons.

"Stoneheads!"

"Idiots!"

"Mudbloods!" the boy pulled out a kunai, and the others followed his example, holding their weapons ready.

Harry pulled out his shuriken and kunai – some in each hand – and waited. He would not stand for the disgrace and humiliation these people brought to the Hidden Villages in their ignorance and arrogance.

Two of the three teachers with Hidden Village emblems had finally decided to step in, and had come down from the Teacher's table. One of the teachers was wearing the Stone-emblem and the other the Leaf-emblem, and Harry could tell at once that this was not going to end good. This only increased his anger, and had to concentrate for a moment to bring it under control and not alert anybody to his presence.

"Now, now," the teacher with Konoha's leaf-emblem said trying to placate the situation. "Lets not fight about this."

"Our House points are in danger!" one of those with the Stone-emblem roared.

"Yes, yes, the number of missions get calculated into House points and all, I know," the same teacher replied. "But don't you think this is going a bit too far?"

"You're only saying that because you're a Leaf yourself." The teacher with the Stone-emblem muttered with a sneer.

'_Congratulations! You've just managed to piss off an ANBU Squad Commander! I hope you enjoyed your life, no matter how short it turned out to be.'_ Harry growled again, this time louder than before. Quite obviously this was not a good thing. ANBU Squad Commanders were directly under the kage in the shinobi food chain, and their skills could easily rival the kage's or even a sannin's. in each Hidden Village there was only three to four Squad Commanders, the rest were ANBU Captains and normal ANBU. That's why, when a kage was killed or decided to step down, that the first candidates for the position were the ANBU Squad Commanders.

Throwing the weapons in his hands Harry quickly multiplied them with a simple Shadow Clone Technique, and guided them with his chakra. The weapons hit the clothes of each and every person who wore one of the mockery _hitai-ate_, and secured them to either the tabletop, the floor or the wall. The quarrelling group found themselves painfully bound by almost invisible strings of wire, and some of them lost their balance and fell over. The pandemonium this sudden attack created was enormous, and a couple of students would have been seriously hurt by either spells or panicking classmates, if Harry's killer intent and anger hadn't washed over them like a tsunami and frozen them all to their seats.

Harry dropped from the ceiling, his white cloak quickly settling in around him, covering his weapons and himself from top to bottom. The only thing they could see underneath the hood, was the red-painted, grinning wolf-mask, and suddenly none of the people in the room doubted that this was a person who could kill them before they could blink, and a person whom they had apparently just completely pissed off.

"You are pathetic." The green-eyed man snarled, and everyone in the room – from teacher to student – flinched. "I should kill you now, all of you, but unfortunately the treaty between the Shinobi Continent and the Wizarding World states that no shinobi may kill unless in self defence, or in the defence of his mission. The same treaty states that the Wizarding World is to let the Shinobi World alone, and not get involved in it, yet here you are doing just that. You make a mockery of the shinobi, and expect it to go unpunished! What's to stop me from killing you all since you broke your part of the deal?"

McGonagall managed to shakily get to her feet, her wand held in a shaking hand. Her hair had turned almost completely grey, and her face was full of wrinkles that hadn't been there the last time Harry had seen her, but otherwise she seemed to be the same as always. And now she was standing at the Head table, bravely trying to stare him down and to save her students and staff.

'_Just like a kage.'_ Harry mused, his green eyes flashing in amusement, before he focused solely on her.

"Who… Who are you?" the Headmistress demanded, her voice as steady as she could make it considering the fact that the killing intent in the air hadn't faded much.

"Ookami of the Konohagakure ANBU." Harry replied. "You requested the Hokage for someone to act as a guard during a meeting that is to be held here. Now would you be so kind as to explain to me what these students are doing, and why even three of your teachers are in on it, and why you haven't stopped it knowing that it goes against the treaty?"

McGonagall blinked in surprise upon hearing that, and it was clear that she was suddenly fighting a smile. She relaxed and lowered her wand. "I am sorry for this, Mr Ookami, I really am. We really had no idea that it was still forbidden." She explained.

"Still forbidden? McGonagall-san, you talk as if it has been allowed for you to learn so much about our culture and villages."

"It wasn't?" came the curious exclamation from the third teacher with a Hidden Village-emblem, the emblem of the Hidden Mist. She was still sitting at the Teacher's table, her entire body surrounded by wire and secured to her chair.

"We never gave permission for it." Green eyes narrowed. "Who told you that it was alright? Who gave you such information?"

The young woman gulped. "I doubt you know him, Mr Ookami. His name is Ernie Macmillan."

'_Macmillan again! I wonder what else that bastard has done.' _Harry sighed. _'Either way this is bad. Voldemort knows too much about the Hidden Villages, the shinobi, and most likely about our ways of training and techniques.'_ He focused back on McGonagall. "I trust you shall inform the proper authorities of this and deal with the problem?" it wasn't a question, but a demand.

"Personally." McGonagall agreed. "Now, if you could perhaps set my students and teachers free…?" that wasn't a question either.

Harry sneered behind his mask, but the killing intent in the air disappeared, and he started to pick up his weapons again. But he also picked up the Hidden Village-emblems and the kunai and shuriken holsters from those students that had them. If a student protested he simply glared them into silence. Once he was done, he threw it all into the air and made a lightning-quick series of hand-seals: "**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!**" (_Fire Element: Grand Fireball!_)

Not even ashes fell back down on the shocked students, and Harry glared around the room. "If any of you has anything they would like to add to the collection of dust currently floating around the hall, then I suggest you do it now. Otherwise I will go through each and every possession that you have, and I will not care what petty secrets you have hidden or what you have written in your diaries, and neither will I care if you are male or female." He raised an eyebrow underneath his mask. "Well? What are you idiots waiting for!" he roared and the Great Hall was suddenly filled by motion as students (and even some teachers) hurried out to either hide their shinobi stuff, or to give it to the pissed off ANBU Squad Commander, or to simply get away from said man.

Never had the Great Hall of Hogwarts been emptied so quickly, and soon only Harry and a couple of the teachers were left.

McGonagall smiled and walked between the tables towards the white-cloaked man. "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Mr Ookami. I am sorry about that, but once the students heard that one of you – a _true_ shinobi – was coming, they wanted to dress up and impress."

"Whatever they wanted to do it was wrong and humiliating to the Hidden Village who's emblem they bore." Came the snarled reply. "If they had been raised as shinobi they would've been severely punished for breaking one of the rules like that. Then again, if they were raised as shinobi they wouldn't have been stupid enough to do it in the first place."

The young female teacher who had spoken up before, winced. "Really, Mr Ookami, it can't be that bad, can it?"

Harry didn't even dignify that with a response except to turn away from her and focus back on McGonagall. "When is this meeting to be held?" he asked shortly. He was in complete mission-mode now, and wouldn't snap out of it until the mission was successfully over.

"We were simply waiting for you, Mr Ookami. It will take a day or so to gather everyone who is to be present, and the meeting itself can't take more than a week seeing as most of the people to be there have pressing obligations. If all goes well, then it shouldn't take more than nine or ten days."

He nodded. "Alright."

"As I am certain that you are tired after your long journey here, and after all the new things you've seen that don't exist on the Shinobi Continent, I shall show you to the rooms we have prepared for you. Please follow me." The young, female teacher said and started leading him away. Harry shot a quick look at McGonagall who nodded, then followed the woman out of the Great Hall.

"My name, if you were wondering, is Elizabeth Walsh."

Harry didn't answer.

"If I might ask, what did you do back in there?" she mentioned towards the Great Hall. "That great fireball? How did you do it?"

Still no answer.

"Is there a reason that you wear such a cloak? Isn't it better if it's black or some other dark colour?"

Not a sound came from the wolf-masked ANBU Squad Commander.

Elizabeth Walsh frowned. "Is there a meaning behind the mask you wear?" she tried again, yet there was still no answer. "Hey! Are you ignoring me!" she demanded in annoyance. Damn it, even she had her limits!

Harry turned and stared down at her. "Yes." He said simply and continued walking, leaving a fuming woman behind. "You don't need to follow me, I can find my own way easily enough." He called back to her.

"WHAT! But you don't know where the hell you are going!" she called as she ran to catch up.

"You make many assumptions." Harry told her. "It's annoying. If you were shinobi, then you would've died a hundred deaths by now."

"Well, the point is that I'm not a shinobi, and I'm still alive!"

"I can rectify that."

She growled and tried to keep herself from punching the man. "Either way! We have reached your rooms, Mr Ookami." She pointed to a picture of a Japanese temple.

'_How obvious.'_ Harry thought to himself, then his gaze shifted back to the woman. _'And how annoying.'_

"The password is 'gobbledegook', but you can change it any time by pressing the stone in the corner of the painting and saying whatever word you want as the password."

"Gobbledegook." Harry said and the painting opened at a mind-numbingly slow pace. _'If there is an emergency then it will all be over before I can get out of the rooms. And the password has **got** to go!'_ He was about to enter, but stopped when he noticed that Walsh was still there. "What?" he snarled.

She glared. "I was going to wish you a good night and tell you how to summon food when you want it, and I will do so even though you are one of the most rude-"

"Get to the point, woman!"

Elizabeth Welsh looked ready to strangle him with her bare hands. "Simply call a House Elf, alright? You can use either Dobby or Winky! Good night and I hope nightmares plague you 'til kingdom come, and especially _not_ back!"

Harry blinked. "Was that supposed to be an insult?"

"_YAAARGH_!" she roared and stomped down the corridor.

The green-eyed man smirked triumphantly, changed his password, and then disappeared into the rooms beyond to explore them. However, he had no intention of sleeping this night. There was an entire castle that needed to be searched from top to bottom, and he needed to have a quick chat with McGonagall as well.

'_This mission didn't start out as well as could be hoped. I only hope that the bad start doesn't set the tone for the rest of its duration.'_ Harry thought as he inspected the rooms. There was a living room, a bathroom and a bedroom. It wasn't too big, rather a bit on the small side for Hogwarts actually, but after living in the apartment he had been in for the past 18 years, and constantly having impromptu sleepovers with Naruto, Itachi, Sasuke, Kakashi, Iruka, and occasionally even Manji, then small space was something one got used to.

'_Well, it's good enough I suppose.'_ He thought as he nodded to himself. _'Now, it's off to see the wonderful wizard… er, witch of Hogwarts. Hope she's still awake and can provide answers to some of the question that are burning in my mind. I'll visit Kimimaro on the way as well.'_ Satisfied with his plan, Harry set off. Outside the Great Hall he noticed a newly-added box that was slowly filling with fake shinobi equipment, and raised an eyebrow. If it was nearly full already he shuddered to think just how much of that stuff that had made its way into the hands of the public, and – even worse! – Voldemort himself. _'Macmillan will have a heck of a lot to explain once I get back home to Konoha!'_

-x-x-x-x-

There, what do you think about this super-long chapter? Please review.

About Harry's strength. Well, put it this way: Harry is approximately as strong as Itachi was in the manga/anime, and Itachi himself is slightly weaker in my fic than in the anime/manga. As for Harry compared to Orochimaru, well, you'll just have to wait for that, although an indication of this will come soon enough, so hold your horses. .

As for the defence of the skies around Hogwarts, well, you will simply have to wait until the next chapter for that answer!

Unless there is a massive want for it from you readers, then Harry will get a love-interest and it will most likely be an OC. Otherwise he will stay single, and I won't even start on the other characters. If it comes, then it comes. And if Kimimaro seems weaker in this fic than in the series, then all I can say is that he wasn't totally and only influenced by Orochimaru. Harry was there, it's just as the case with Naruto.

Thanks to:

Adnexus, Lila Mae, Tessa-chan, Shinobi's Fire, Meemei, BasicallyAnIdiot, oldmagic, hittocerebattosai, The Insane Imortal Dragon, dark672, Morrolan, I-Y-T-Y, RBMIfan, Fattyaddy-99, Anave Lipad, Z-AKA Andrea-, Sk8er7, candidus-lupus-full Moon, firmin, 2stupid, Tenshi Youkai no Yugure, polabear, kirallie, cheerful-pinkstar, Knives, Honebar, MiruSedna, oldmagic, SensiblyTainted, silvergrac3, Vamps Witches And Weres, CJ, FireAngel8723, NamelessHeretic, Jenniyah, and zi ma gesto.


	19. Chapter 19

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Um, all I can say is beware of obsessive fangirls. Yeah. Oh, and please review!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Nineteen**

For a shinobi it was easy to sneak in almost anywhere and for an ANBU Squad Commander it was even easier, therefore Headmistress McGonagall nearly got a heart attack when she returned to her office after making her customary rounds, only to find the newly-arrived shinobi hanging upside-down and observing the portraits of the past heads of Hogwarts.

"Get down from there this instant!" the former Gryffindor Head of House demanded. "You will fall down and hurt yourself, Mr Ookami!"

Harry found himself incredibly amused at this, and also a bit worried. Surely the woman had noticed that he had used chakra/magic to stick to the ceiling? Either way, he did as she demanded and easily landed on the floor in front of her. He had shed his white cloak and stood now in full ANBU uniform, the red tattoo on his left shoulder standing out like a beacon amongst all the white and black. "Good evening, McGonagall-san," he greeted the witch in return.

"Good evening," McGonagall replied and sat down behind her desk. "So, what brings you here this late, Mr. Ookami? I had thought you would be tired after journeying for so long, and with a wounded companion on your back from what Madame Pomfrey tells me."

"The need for information." Harry said simply and observed the elderly woman in front of him. Didn't she recognise him?

"Ah, yes, I should have known." She opened a drawer and a stack of papers which had obviously been shrunk to fit, popped out like a jack-in-the-box. The tower of papers went at least four feet up into the air, and heaven knew just how deep the drawer had been charmed to be!

McGonagall rooted about for a while – several times nearly toppling the paper-tower over – before she located what she was looking for, and handed it over to the ANBU. "Here you go. That's a map of Hogwarts and the surrounding area, it's the map that all the staff has at their disposal, so everything should be there. I can also arrange for our Charms professor – Filius Flitwick – to give you a tour tomorrow if you wish it," she said, then proceeded to fight a mighty battle against the paper-tower. It seemed as though the paper simply didn't want to be stowed into a smelly old drawer, and in the end she gave up completely.

Harry couldn't help but smile behind his mask. It was no wonder that all the heads of Hogwarts seemed to turn out a little barmy in the end, that much amount of paperwork was enough to drive anyone nuts. "You misunderstand me, McGOnagall-san," he said, none of his emotions betrayed in his voice. "I can find my own way around the castle and the grounds easily enough. As you might have guessed already I have seen and experienced the maze that surrounds Hogwarts, but that is just the defence on the ground. What I would like to know is how you defend the castle from attacks from the air?"

"So that was you!" the Headmistress exclaimed. "Two nights ago our Divinations professor in her tower noticed an uncommon amount of movement from the maze, but we thought it was just another dragon hatchling that had wandered off into the maze. They tend to do that now and then."

"Dragon hatchling?" Harry asked. He suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

"Yes, that's how we defend Hogwarts from the air. There are eight different species of dragons posted in the mountains all around us, specially trained to guard the castle and Hogsmeade village but not eat the inhabitants. Due to their innate magic the dragons are totally invisible to us, but luckily there are fully qualified dragon-handlers stationed in the village. From which direction did you come, Mr. Ookami?"

"South by south-east."

"Oh, you must've been extremely lucky then, or very skilled indeed. That's where the Hungarian Horntails are placed, and one of those is a specially vicious one that was used in something we call the Triwizard Tournament."

"Ah," was all Harry could manage to get out. Either the dragons hadn't been there when he and Kimimaro had passed, or the one he had met before had recognised his scent and had – for some strange reason – let him pass. Either way, Harry was thanking every deity he knew of for all the luck they had sent him lately. Of course, the luck wouldn't last much longer seeing as Murphy's Law had a knack for kicking in at the worst of times, but for now he was just overjoyed that he was alive. _'Better not say anything to Kimimaro. The poor brat would have a heart attack. He can find out on his own when I am far away from here.' _

There was a short silence between them, before McGonagall spoke again. "Mr. Ookami, do you by any chance know…" she cut herself off.

Harry made an inquisitive sound at the back of his throat. He was still trying to get over the surprise of the dragons.

"No, forget it, it is stupid of me to ask."

"What is it, McGonagall-san?" the green-eyed shinobi finally managed to focus on the elderly Headmistress.

"I was just wondering if you knew a _shootnin_, but it doesn't matter."

"A shootnin? Ah, you must mean a _chunnin_." He corrected her. _'And the horrible mispronunciation continues!'_

"If that's the correct term, then yes; his name is Harry Potter." McGonagall looked at him hopefully. "I haven't heard from him in a very long time, and since you came from the same village I thought that you might know him."

Harry blinked in surprise. Had it really been such a long time since he had contacted anyone else in the Order save Moody?

"Do you know him?" she implored again, her eyes begging for any news.

The green-eyed man opened his mouth, but couldn't speak. He had changed over the years, he knew that, but had he changed so much that even Minerva McGonagall – his old Head of House – couldn't recognise him? "You…" he started. "You were expecting him to come when you commissioned this mission?"

"Yes." McGonagall sighed. "I was, it was for his reason that I had the meeting moved and am willing to pay so much from my own pocket for such a high-ranked missi-"

"You presume too much! If I hadn't been who I am, then you would've just given away a literally deadly valuable piece of information, McGonagall-san." Harry growled. Wizards were too trusting; they seemed to take everything at face value! Then he sighed and his tone softened. "Really, professor, have I changed that much since we last saw each other?" with that he reached up and took off his wolf-shaped ANBU mask.

Minerva McGonagall simply sat there, her mouth open in shock. Then she slowly started to rise and walked slowly over to him, her eyes were watery and she swallowed. Her hand rose uncertainly and trembling up until the pads of her fingers gently touched his face. "Harry?" she whispered in wonder.

Harry nodded a smile forming on his face. "Hello, Professor McGonagall."

Then suddenly the elderly Headmistress was hugging him tightly, like a mother hugging her long-lost son; and she was laughing and crying at the same time, her tears wetting his uniform as she was repeating his name over and over, nearly chocking on her emotions. Just like Naruto she constantly traced the lines of his face, and even planted a kiss or two on his cheeks. Harry simply grinned and wound his arms around the woman and swung her around as if it was the easiest thing in the world – which to him it was. If someone had passed the Headmistress' office at that point in time and heard the shrieks and exclamations of joy, they would have thought the Headmistress to have gone absolutely nuts.

-x-x-x-x-

When McGonagall had finally let him out of her clutches, Harry was stuffed to the brim with delicious, newly-baked cookies and milk. The elderly woman had pampered and spoiled him to the extreme, and he had only been in her company for an hour at the most. She had asked a few questions about his life and how he became ANBU, but once she realised that he wouldn't answer most of her questions in relation to the Shinobi Continent, she respected it and stopped her questions, and then focused on stuffing the poor man with what she remembered to be his favourite snacks from his schooldays.

Harry chuckled as he sent a look over his shoulder to the gargoyle guarding the staircase up to the office he had just vacated, and shook his head. If McGonagall reacted thusly, he was sure Mrs. Weasley would be even worse. Not wanting to meet up with the Weasley matriarch just yet, Harry had given McGonagall the letter Ron had wanted delivered. The green-eyed man knew that there were explanations about shinobi terms and so on in that letter, and he also knew that there were several pictures included. Still, he couldn't believe just how insanely tick and heavy the damn thing was. Harry had also agreed to meet with the Order at Grimmauld Place shortly after the meeting was over and before he left to go back to the Shinobi Continent.

Seeing as Madame Pomfrey would undoubtedly throw him out if he tried to visit Kimimaro at this point in time, Harry decided to start scouting around the castle and visit the young bone-manipulator in the wee hours before dawn when he was sure that the nurse would be asleep. He decided to start from the ground floor and work his way up to the top, then take the dungeons last – and hopefully scare a few Slytherins while he was at it. With that thought in mind, he set off on his nightly adventure, noting all the slight differences in the castle since he had been there last. Here a painting had been moved, there a new suit of armour had popped up, and over there was a new statue. It kept him reasonably amused, but didn't take too much of his concentration, and he easily spent two hours going to and fro in the castle, never getting past the third floor.

Just as he was about to ascent the stairs to the fourth floor, he heard several pairs of footsteps obviously trying to be silent. It easily piqued his interest even though he was fairly sure that the footsteps belonged to students that were out of bed, and he used a mild genjutsu to blend himself in with the wall and the shadows in the alcove he was standing in, and waited.

Five minutes later, a group of about eight or nine girls – all from different houses – came around the corner. All of them were dressed in dark shirts and very short skirts, and all of them were obviously trying to not make much noise as they moved in a group. All in all, it looked rather ridiculous to Harry, and his lips twitched.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" one of the girls, a Hufflepuff, whispered.

"Stop being such a chicken." A girl from Gryffindor muttered.

"Besides," said one from Ravenclaw, "Professor Walsh told me that his rooms were somewhere on this floor, and she has never lied to me before."

"But-" the Hufflepuff started again.

"Don't you want to see what kind of body he has hidden under that cloak and mask?" a Slytherin cut her off. "My aunt is one of the regulars with the trading caravan, and she told me that all of the males are hotter than the sun."

"But we'll be breaking and entering," another girl from Ravenclaw pointed out, "and probably molesting him as well, when it comes down to it. We could be sued for that, you know. Besides, there's no given that he's a hottie under all that, right?"

"But can't you just imagine it?" the Slytherin girl whispered in a husky voice. "Intense eyes looking at you, strong arms winding around you, your body being pressed up against hard muscle. A roguishly handsome face is all you see before he claims your lips possessively, knowing what will follow, that you only belong to him-"

"Stop it!" several of the girls whimpered, while others moaned and groaned and panted.

"But what if he thinks we're too young or not good enough for him?" the girl from Hufflepuff asked and totally ruined the mood.

"Who can resist us?" another Slytherin girl demanded.

"Yeah, what guy wouldn't have his own harem?" a girl from Gryffindor wondered.

The girl from Ravenclaw that had spoken first suddenly stopped and turned to her fellows. "Right, spread out and search for him. His rooms should be behind the painting of an oriental temple." With those orders the girls dispersed.

Harry stood totally shocked in his little alcove, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Itachi had been right: there was nothing more terrifying than an obsessive fangirl. Heavens knew that he wasn't a stranger to sexual acts and intercourse, all shinobi were taught about it fairly early in life for two reasons. One was that their lives were rather short compared to others, and the other reason was that a mission might come along where one had to seduce someone for the good of the mission. But if those little girls thought that he was ever going to even consider them in such a light, then they had another thing coming.

'_What do they take me for, a bloody paedophile?'_ he growled to himself and headed off to the higher levels of the castle. _'Elizabeth Walsh will need to pay for telling them where my rooms are located. Luckily they will never get in.'_ He simply shuddered in terror at that thought.

-x-x-x-x-

The next day Harry burned the fake shinobi equipment which had been left in the appointed box, then he spent the rest of the day walking around Hogwarts, sitting in on lessons, avoiding his new fan club, and observing the important people who were to be at the meeting as they arrived. He greeted the few that spotted him, most of those were the hired bodyguards and all of those were Auror-level or higher when it came to skill. That could be roughly translated into low to middle jounnin-level in shinobi terms.

Kimimaro had been asleep when Harry had visited him before dawn, and the green-eyed shinobi hadn't had the heart to wake the young bone-manipulator from his first good and restful sleep in weeks. Therefore he had returned to his rooms for a quick, but resting catnap, and when he got up four hours later no one would be able to see that he had been awake for most of the night. McGonagall had greeted him joyfully, her eyes twinkling in a manner not unlike Dumbledore's when the old Headmaster delighted in knowing something others didn't, and it was driving most of the staff up the walls with curiosity seeing as the Headmistress wasn't in the habit of keeping things from them.

"How has your day been so far, Mr. Ookami?" the elderly woman asked when they all had sat down for dinner.

"Good enough." Harry replied, but there was a trickle of annoyance in his voice.

"Only good enough?"

"I seem to have acquired an unwanted, obsessed group of fangirls. They're throwing themselves at me – quite literally! One pretended to have tripped, another pretended to faint, a third was apparently pushed down the stairs that I was oh so conveniently ascending, and it goes on and on." The green-eyed shinobi explained as he piled food on his plate. He had posted several clones as a watch both outside and inside the Great Hall, and most of those clones had been turned into totally normal, harmless things, and no one would notice them.

McGonagall winced sympathetically. "I am sorry, but that is one thing we cannot do anything about," she apologised.

Elizabeth Walsh, who was sitting on the other side of the Headmistress, snorted. "What? Not liking the attention? I thought a man like you would be crazy for it? And how are you going to eat that with that mask still on?" she motioned to the full plate and then to the wolf-shaped ANBU mask.

"You should stay silent and keep far out of my way, woman." Harry told her in a deadly whisper. "Don't think I don't know whom it was that told those obsessed bimbos where my rooms were located." With that he did something which the wizards sitting around him couldn't catch at all, and the next thing the teachers knew they were staring at the empty plate in front of the ANBU Squad Commander. "Dinner was excellent, McGonagall-san."

"Right." McGonagall barely managed to shake herself out of her shocked staring. "Where are you headed to?"

"To patrol." Came the reply, and Harry disappeared from the room before any of the fangirls could gather their stuff to follow him.

-x-x-x-x-

Two days after Harry's arrival at Hogwarts everyone who was going to be at the meeting had arrived, and the meeting could finally get underway. School was cancelled for the day and most likely for the week as well, students were literally locked up in their common rooms with teachers and Aurors making sure they didn't get out, and the Great Hall was turned into a meeting room. Aurors from many countries along with Harry's transformed Shadow Clones were posted outside to keep watch, and there were even more Aurors inside the hall. Harry himself was once again up in the rafters, hidden by the enchanted ceiling of Hogwarts, and was observing it all from his perch.

"Headmistress McGonagall, how good to see you!" the Minister of Magic greeted. "Well, where is this mysterious guard you hired from the Shinobi Continent?"

"He's here, Minister." McGonagall replied. "Now, you are placed just over there, close to the American Minister of Magic." She pointed to a seat. Scrimgeour clearly didn't believe her, but he headed towards his seat. On the table in front of each seat was a small flag showing which country the person sitting there presented.

The meeting began and it ran long and boring. Harry didn't pay too much attention to the meeting, there was much talk and arguing about alliances and what to do with Voldemort and so on and so forth. The green-eyed shinobi had been at meetings like these before, and nothing really happened until the last day or so of the gathering, the rest was simply boring politicians arguing about things that wouldn't even enter the pact in the end. Instead he focused on the reason why he was there, which was as a guard, and he observed everything. The politicians, their visible guards, and their invisible guards of which some where under Invisibility Cloaks, Invisibility Potions, illusions, and so on and so forth. It seemed like only McGonagall didn't have a guard or two hovering over her shoulder at all times of the day.

But Harry also noticed something. During one of the breaks when people got up to stretch their legs to get something to eat or to go to the toilet, several of the different Aurors around the room returned slightly changed. One Auror who had had an almost unnoticeable limp came back without one, another constantly shook his head as if he had a tick or was trying to shake something off, a third who had clearly been a rookie suddenly appeared much more confident in his skills than before. Those were small observations which the people in the Great Hall hardly noticed, but Harry had a perfect perch to see everything from far above them, and he was too suspicious by his shinobi nature to let it go. And apparently he _wasn't_ the only one who noticed this, because there were several of the more veteran Aurors – those who had probably retired from being Unspeakables – were slowly and inconspicuously getting closer and closer to each their own victim, and Harry relaxed slightly in the knowledge that he would have a bit more time to act when something happened.

Nothing happened that day, nor the next one, or the day after that again. In fact, nothing continued to happen until the very last day of the meeting. The alliances had been set, the deals had been made, and everything left was the signature of every important person present on the document in question. They all stood in one line and signed the document one by one, then moved off to the side to watch and applaud then the next person came up. The Aurors had relaxed as much as one could relax in such a situation, but Harry still kept on high alert, his senses telling him that something was going to happen today.

'_None of them are going to react very positively when they are attacked,'_ he thought. _'It's going to be total pandemonium! Very few of those fat lumps of lard are going to even remember that they have a wand they can use for protection, though most of the Aurors will do a good job of keeping their bosses safe… it all depends on how many there are of the attackers, and how good they are.'_

He was barely finished thinking this, when he felt one of his Kage Bunshin from outside the Great Hall being dispersed off. Soon after followed another, and then finally the third and last clone was gone. Harry quickly cancelled the Shadow Clones he had posted all over the castle, and got ready. A second later the doors of the Great Hall banged open, figures in black ran in and attacked the shocked people inside, and the Aurors that had acted weirdly for the past few days, suddenly turned and started attacking their own thereby creating even more chaos.

Spells flew, curses were shouted, shields were raised, and aurors were trying to organise themselves. The attackers hadn't yet gotten halfway across the Great Hall, and Harry took this opportunity at once. He made several hand-seals, and roared: "**Katon: Karyuu Endan!**" (_Fire Element: Fire-dragon Flame Blast!_)

The dragon shot towards the attackers, some of which managed to raise shields, but few of those were strong enough to stand up to the power of such a technique. Whilst everyone was busy watching the dragon of fire, Harry made another quick series of hand-seals and then said: "**Doton: Doryuuheki!**" (_Earth Element: Earth Rising Wall!_)

He spit out mud in the same manner as he had spit out the fire, and a great wall of highly durable mud soon grew between the Aurors and the attackers, cutting one off from the other, and then he jumped down in front of the Aurors. He had to avoid a couple of spells and curses before the Aurors realised that he was one of the good guys, and it took another moment that he was this mysterious hired guard from the Shinobi Continent. Luckily all the traitors in the Auror ranks had been dealt with easily and quickly, and all of them were unconscious and hogtied and stowed into a corner.

"Who are you?" one of the retired Unspeakables demanded.

"Ookami of the Konohagakure ANBU." Harry replied. "Does anyone know who those people are?" he asked in turn.

"Probably and most likely Death Eaters," the same man replied. "Those are the henchmen of the Dark Lord Voldemort."

Another man stepped forwards. "What kind of technique did you use to create the dragon of fire and that wall of mud?" he asked. "I have been with the trading caravan a couple of times, but I have never seen those two before."

"We can chat at a later time," Harry said and threw off his ANBU Squad Commander cloak, revealing his katana and even the Fuuma shuriken now hanging on his back. "Does anyone have a plan or are we free to fight as we see fit?" just as he said that a crack appeared in the wall, and then another.

Everyone shared a look, then one of the other retired Unspeakables quickly organised things. The youngest Aurors were put to guard the important people seeing as they had the least skills to call upon, and the others were all set free to fight as they saw fit. None of them even tried to order around the wolf-masked man, and Harry placed himself in one of the first lines already making another set of hand-seals, but stopping short of making the last seal. He waited along with the others to let lose the destructive force until they were sure it would hit an enemy and not the wall that defended them.

The attackers broke through, and now Harry could clearly see the ghoulish white masks of the Death Eaters, and he finished the last hand-seals and unleashed the technique. "**Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!**" (_Fire Element: Phoenix Fire!_)

Ten balls of fire shot out of his mouth in quick succession, and hit several of the Death Eaters head on. As fast as one technique was finished Harry was already making the hand-seals for the next, and several destructive techniques went one after another until the Death Eaters and the Aurors were too mingled for him to perform any more without hitting his allies. Therefore he drew his katana, thanking high heaven that Gekkou Hayate had been willing to teach him this special technique, and whispered to himself: "**Mikazuki no Mai!**" (_Dance of the Crescent Moon!_)

As soon as Harry attacked someone a clone of him appeared and certain illusionary aspects fooled the opponent's eye. In the end the Death Eater couldn't figure out from which direction the attack was coming, and ended up with a sword through his guts or having his head sliced off. This way Harry ran through the Death Eaters like a kunai through paper, and people soon learned to fear his skills. He ducked and weaved and avoided, and used all his shinobi skills to make sure he wasn't hit by any stray or aimed spell. He couldn't avoid them all, and soon enough there were several small cuts all over his body and clothes, but luckily his mask was never hit and it never fell off. He didn't want to use his wizarding skills in this battle lest people become a bit too suspicious of him, and therefore stuck to ninja skills only.

Harry drew his Fuuma shuriken, opened it, and threw it at a group of Death Eaters. Some of them avoided the first shuriken by jumping over it or going to the side, but none had expected the second shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first and in their blind spot, and almost the entire group died. The two shuriken ended up imbedded in the wall of the Great Hall.

Seeing that the Death Eaters were retreating slightly to reorganise themselves, Harry quickly signalled to the Aurors to get behind him, and once again started making hand-seals. This technique would take a great deal of the chakra he had left, but if it worked it would end the battle. Besides he still hadn't drawn his repertoire of normal shuriken, kunai and senbon needles. "**Suiton: Suishouha!**" (_Water Element: Water Wave!_)

The Aurors watched in awe as a large column of water rose out of nowhere. The water was wildly trying to break free of the bonds holding it, and once Harry let it rage it totally destroyed whatever was left of the mud wall, the tables and chairs and the poor Death Eaters didn't stand a chance at all. They were seemingly deliberately thrown into walls and chairs and tables by the water, and some broke their neck and others drowned. By the end of it there wasn't a single Death Eater left standing, the doors of the Great Hall were totally ruined and so were the doors of the Entrance Hall.

"Holy frick!" one of the Aurors whispered in awe. "I have just _got_ to learn that spell!"

-x-x-x-x-

There, yet another long chapter. Please review and tell me what you think!

I know that the chapter might seem a bit rushed, but I simply couldn't bring myself to write out the entire meeting. That would be too boring and not good for ones health, trust me.

Seeing as most people voted for no romance for Harry, then that's what's going to happen. Besides, I'm not good at writing romance for Harry – unless it's slash, and this isn't going to be. Unless someone else wants to write it as a spin-off or something.

Yes, Ernie Macmillan is very evil in my fic. Dunno why, it just happened.

Thanks to:

Shika, Z-AKA Andrea-, Xurtan, Midnight Sorrows, candidus-lupus-full Moon, NamelessHeretic, BasicallyAnIdiot, Tokyo no Ecchi, The Insane Imortal Dragon, Jenniyah, Ol' Ollie, korrd, Imber, FireAngel8723, TanyaPotter, Tessa-chan, nantukoprime, Gato-sama, Fattyaddy-99, dark672, RBMIfan, kirallie, I-Y-T-Y, Nocena T. Calamus, Elliot, Morrolan, TheWiseSirIvanTheShadowLord, hittocerebattosai, simpleinsanity, Monks N More, Knives, cheerful-pinkstar, Adnexus, arsenic graffiti, Meemei, Lila Mae, Cyberwing, silvergrac3, MiruSedna, PxW, Shinobi's Fire, Tombadgerlock, SensiblyTainted, AceZ-Shadow and webweaver.


	20. Chapter 20

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Another long chapter. I just can't seem to get rid of the disease! **ARGH**! Oh well, can't be helped, can't be helped. Um, other than telling you to read, enjoy and review once you're done, there isn't anything I have to say. Wait, there is! We've reached the big 2 O! Everybody celebrate!

I have put up yet another illustration for this fic on my _devART_ page – the link's in my bio. Hope you enjoy!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Twenty**

The Aurors stood there and gaped at the wreckage caused by one spell that seemed so simple to them. Well, showed what they knew. Harry simply stood there and panted for a minute, whilst he watched the Aurors of different countries gape, shake themselves out of their stupor and then start to get things under a resemblance of order again. A group of them went around and rounded up the Death Eaters that had been taken down during the duelling, another group took care of all those who had been unfortunate enough to be caught by the raging wave of water, and the rest simply worked on calming down the different important Ministry officials that seemed to have gotten a slightly delayed panic attack.

McGonagall shakily mad her way away from the large group, and towards the lone wolf-masked figure. The fight had been a shock to her, like getting a bucket of ice cold water over oneself as a wakeup call. She had known that Harry had changed over these past 18 years, every report said so; nor was she so incredibly naïve that she believed that killing could be avoided in this war that they were waging, but the destructive power Harry had displayed today – and his seeming willingness and readiness to use it – had shocked her to the core. It had made her realise that her picture of the young man was completely wrong. She had always had the picture of a small, scared eleven-year-old Harry taking his first steps in Hogwarts firmly implanted in her mind, and a week ago she had acted on the motherly instinct that had developed over the years for this particular boy, and had smothered him in cookies and milk and everything sweet she could think of. Now she realised that he had simply indulged her, that he didn't need her smothering anymore, that he was a grown up man. Her mental image of a small, lost boy had been shattered forever.

'_And perhaps it's for the best,'_ the old headmistress thought to herself as she reached the young man in question. "Mr. Ookami? Are you alright?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, McGonagall-san, there's nothing to worry about. The techniques I used today merely took a bit out of me, I only need a couple of minutes of rest."

"Indeed. If it hadn't been for you, then I fear that our losses would have been far greater." McGonagall put a grandmotherly hand on an exposed shoulder, her fingers covering the ANBU Squad Commander tattoo. "At leas the students weren't hur-" she didn't have time to finish the sentence as the shoulder beneath her hand suddenly disappeared. "Wha-? Mr. Ookami!"

"Send someone to check on the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin common rooms, McGonagall-san!" Harry shouted over his shoulder. "I'll go to the Gryffindor common room, it's furthest away and I am the fastest of us." With that he disappeared from the senses of the Aurors and Unspeakables in the room, the people in his wake quickly doing as he had ordered.

Running and jumping from staircase to staircase and wall to wall, Harry made his way towards the entrance of the Gryffindor common room. When McGonagall approached him he had been trying to figure out exactly why he had a feeling of danger and dread churning in the pit of his stomach, and had been trying to figure it out when the headmistress mentioned the students. Then it had all clicked. They didn't know that the students were alright seeing as he had been forced to cancel his Shadow Clones in order to have more chakra for the fight that had taken place in the Great Hall, and thusly he had no way of telling if the students were in danger or not.

Making use of his memories of the castle, he took every short cut he could in order to reach the entrance to the Gryffindor common room faster, and soon he was on the correct floor. Running through the corridors, he cursed when he heard the telltale sounds of fighting and of curses whizzing to and fro, and put up an extra burst of speed.

Rounding a corner Harry took a split second to survey the scene in front of him. There were ten Death Eaters in all, five of which were lying unconscious on the ground. The defenders – five Aurors and three professors, one of which was Elizabeth Walsh – had done a good job, but now six of them were incapacitated in some way or another, and the last two were desperately trying to defend the entrance while being totally overwhelmed.

It was at this point that Harry deemed he had enough information about the situation, and attacked.

The people there didn't know what hit them. For the first few seconds they thought that someone had sent a lethal Cutting-Whirlwind hex – newly-developed by someone who had been with the trading caravan, and had been inspired by the techniques of the shinobi – amongst them, but then the whirlwind in question stopped moving, and they came face to face with a red-and-white wolf-shaped mask splattered in blood. At the same moment three of the remaining Death Eaters suddenly parted with a vital part of their body, their severed heads falling to the floor with a wet squelch and rolling a bit before stopping. The headless bodies stood for a moment longer, before they fell to the floor as well, the blood running out of them and covering the floor with an amazing speed. Who would have thought that the human body housed so much blood?

Harry held the blood-soaked katana in a manner which made the light from one of the windows glitter off it coldly, a calculated move to get to his enemies psychologically. If those people had been trained as ninja, none of them would have paid any attention to it, and would probably have done something equally gruesome in attempt to gain the upper hand. But these weren't ninja, and Harry could hear the last standing Auror heave and then vomit from somewhere behind him.

"Oh, gods…" Elizabeth Walsh whimpered, her eyes wide in horror, her face pale as a sheet, and her hand in front of her mouth as if trying to keep her breakfast down.

Neither of the two Death Eaters in front of him were looking too high on their horses – their eyes being the only thing that revealed their fright, everything else was either covered by the robes or the white, ghoulish mask – but they weren't as scared or freaked out as the young Auror and the professor. Harry assumed that after being in the service of Voldemort even the gentlest of people would either build up a wall of tolerance to violence, or they would simply snap, lose their minds and would be killed.

"Well, well," the leader of this particular group of Death Eaters, said and smirked behind his mask. He was one of the least affected ones, and his eyes were cold and calculating. "Quite the show you put up, my dear sir, and it was about time you came here. We have been waiting for you, you know. The great Lord Voldemort, soon to be the ruler of this pathetic country, has a couple of propositions for you, Ookami of the Konohagakure ANBU."

Harry raised an eyebrow behind his own mask. _'It's probably a join-me-or-die kind of deal. Whilst we're at it, how the devil did Riddle know that I was here? Someone must've been talking… again… I'm getting really annoyed by all the prattling that's going around.'_ He focused back on the Death Eater who seemed to wait for a response, but Harry gave him none. _'At least there are no mispronunciations this time.'_

The Death Eater cleared his throat, then continued when it was made clear that the man in front of him wouldn't utter a sound any time soon. "He wants you for a job, an assassination job: he wants the man known as Harry Potter killed as fast as possible. Potter has green eyes, black hair, and is currently travelling with someone named Or-ochi-mar-u, and the Lord heard that neither are well-liked on the Shinobi Continent." The man took a deep breath before he continued. "Either that, or the Dark Lord would like to hire as many of your kind as he can for this war with the mudbloods and muggle-lovers. He is willing to pay a nice price for both missions, and he would be eternally grateful if you would meet with him personally at this location." The Death Eater plucked a black piece of paper from an inner pocket of his robes, and held it out for the ANBU to take.

Harry stretched out his hand and carefully took the piece of paper. At once he could feel several different spells and hexes lock into place, all of them mostly focused on swaying his will to accept the proposal, but a couple focusing on finding out how powerful he was and also trying to work out his identity by connecting with his chakra/magic. The green-eyed man didn't give the spells and enchantments a chance to even get close enough for any of those. His mental shields were at once strengthened, and to keep the hexes from locking onto his chakra Harry did a little-known trick of the Hyuuga that Manji had taught him: he more or less closed down all the tenketsu points on his body. This was a technique the Hyuuga's used when they had to blend into a crowd of normal civilians, and it meant that right now none of the hexes and enchantments could reach Harry's core of chakra/magic. But it also meant that Harry couldn't use any techniques – shinobi or wizard – to attack or defend himself. However, him being an ANBU Squad Commander, it didn't matter much, especially when his opponents were wizards.

Elizabeth Walsh, on the other hand, didn't know any of this, and her mind jumped to the only conclusion it could: Ookami was going to sell them all out just because someone else offered a higher sum of money.

"_WHAT_! How can you even think about doing something like that!" she raised her wand and would have shouted the most destructive curse she knew of, if it hadn't been for the blood soaked katana which suddenly rested dangerously against the skin of her throat. She looked up into cold, emotionless green eyes, and could only see her death in them.

Harry sent the young woman another look, never removing his sword from her neck, then turned back to the Death Eater. "Your kízòku-"

The younger Death Eater cut him off. "Kí-zò-ku?"

"Your _lord_ I think right is word," Harry replied, deliberately speaking the way he was. "Your lord… he willing is to… to give time through this think, yes?"

"You animal!" Elizabeth Walsh yelled to the ANBU, her hands clutched into angry, shaking fists. "You are willing to see us all die as long as you get your beloved money! You are as bad and as barbaric as some people said you were!" she cut off with a whimper when the katana bit into the skin of her throat, a thin line of blood – this time hers – running down her throat and into her robes.

"Yes," the Death Eater ignored her completely. "The Dark Lord has graciously given you a year – that is 12 months – to think it through and gather any allies you need once you decide to join Him in this most worthy of causes."

The green-eyed man raised an eyebrow behind his mask. _'How presumptuous of Riddle to think like that, but maybe I can use it to my own gain.'_

"So, what is it going to be, Ookami?" the eldest Death Eater asked, a smirk in his voice.

"Time to over think proposal," Harry replied, then continued in perfect English: "And only one messenger is needed for this to be relayed to the Dark Lord." With that he promptly and without further ado chopped the head off of the oldest Death Eater. Then he turned towards the younger one, who was quite clearly not used to things like these. "As for you…"

The young Death Eater didn't give the ANBU time to finish his sentence as he squeaked in terror and threw himself out the nearest window. As he fell he found his emergency portkey, activated it and was whisked off to wherever Voldemort's hideout was. Harry was left standing in the middle of the corridor, blinking in surprise. That had never happened before. Shaking his head, muttering internally about the quality of youths these days – he felt positively ancient at that point – he looked down on the little black paper which he held in his left hand.

It was written in Japanese in a clear attempt to impress and make him more positively receptive towards whatever was written inside. Harry simply shook his head, it was an old trick. Ibiki would rant his head off at the uselessness and unimaginativeness of these people. The green-eyed man started reading, careful not to pronounce anything out loud or linger too long in one place in case he activated a portkey of some sort. With Voldemort one could never know, and it was better to be paranoid and prepared, than to be caught with ones trousers down.

'_-Ookami of the Konohagakure ANBU,  
__I, Dark Lord Voldemort, greet you. _

_I have two propositions for you, Ookami-san, and I think that they might interest someone like you. Of course, you might have heard some rather discriminating things against my person, and I assure you that it is nothing more than that I do what needs to be done in a war.-'_

The letter went on like this for a while, mostly pointing out all the good aspects of Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and also mentioning a large sum of money in almost every paragraph. Harry nearly fell asleep where he stood as he read it, and he totally ignored the aurors when they finally arrived at the scene and started to clean up. He ignored it when the door to the Gryffindor common room opened from inside, and a couple of students – most of them his obsessive fangirls – stuck their heads out to see what was going on, and he couldn't help but feel a slight, sadistic glee when all of them turned green and ran to the bathrooms – of course, he was still ignoring them and reading Voldemort's drivel. He was. Really!

Finally the letter came to the most important part:

'_-When you want to speak to me, then come to Stonehenge – even a muggle could tell you the way – and find the little snake I have placed there. She will report to me, and thusly I shall come straight away and our meeting may get underway. I look forwards to a long and fruitful partnership, Mr. Ookami.-'_

It was signed Lord Voldemort, and a small snake kept slithering its way across the paper right underneath the name. Harry raised an eyebrow, then went to find McGonagall. Seeing as he couldn't do anything magical whilst the spell to recognise his chakra/magic strength and signature was there, he needed someone to take it off before he took care of the other enchantments himself. Besides, the Order needed to be told about this as soon as possible. Elizabeth Walsh and the young Auror would start prattling about the meeting, and they would tell the others about the offer from Voldemort. This probably meant that the Ministry would do everything in their power to sway Harry to _their_ side, which was the only thing they could do since they had no real jurisdiction over the ANBU Squad Commander. Either way, Harry was going to be in a hell of a boring political mess as soon as this incident reached the ears of the Minister of Magic. He rued the day.

Rounding a corner halfway between the Gryffindor common rooms and the Great Hall, he nearly ran into Professor Flitwick. The small man had been guarding the Ravenclaw common rooms, and his robes were slightly torn, occasionally bloodstained, and his beard was scorched and still smoking slightly. Otherwise he looked fine, and easily jumped backwards and out of the ANBU's way.

"I am sorry, Mr. Ookami," the small professor began. "I didn't mean to run into you. I was in a bit of a hurry you see, and-"

"Quite alright, Flitwick-san," Harry replied pleasantly. Former teacher or not, he intended to milk this situation for all that it was worth. "I was actually looking for you."

"Oh?" Flitwick cocked his head to the side curiously, clearly wondering what someone like Ookami could want of someone like him.

"Yes, I have been told that you are the resident master of what you call _charms_, and I was wondering if you would be willing to help me out a bit."

"Anytime, my good man. Come in here so that we don't disturb anyone, and tell me all about it!" the Ravenclaw Head of House led the way into an abandoned classroom, climbed onto a chair, then onto the desk itself and finally settled himself down. "Now, what seems to be the problem? Or is that the problem, that you don't know what the problem actually is?"

Harry smiled behind his mask, knowing it would make his green eyes twinkle kindly and put almost anyone at ease. "I will try to explain as nice as I- no, that's wrong! To the best of my abilities – I believe that would be the correct phrase, no?"

Flitwick nodded. "Yes, that is correct." It was no new experience for the professors of Hogwarts to have to occasionally 'help' the ANBU with a correct word or phrase, and thusly it didn't make anyone suspicious.

"Very well, I hope you will bear with me as I explain," Harry said, and then explained about the enchantments of the letter, except he didn't say anything about the context of the letter in question. He simply said that it was an attempt made by the Dark Lord to track him and capture him. By the end of it all, Flitwick was positively glowing at the challenge this presented, though he readily swore an Unbreakable Vow not to tell anyone about what had been revealed about the chakra system of coils, tenketsu points, and the ability to more or less block the points when needed.

"I assure you, my good man, your secrets are as safe with me as the gold is in Gringotts! Nothing to worry about at all! Now, let's have a look at those enchantments. If you would just stay right where you are…" Flitwick drew his wand and started waving it about and muttering under his breath. Even with Harry's superior hearing he had no chance of understanding any of it even if he caught the words of the spell.

Flitwick went on like this for a while, occasionally exclaiming a 'Goodness me!' or 'Oh, my!' or even 'Cheeky little blighter, just wait until I get to you!'. Harry wisely decided not to ask, and instead felt rather awed as he watched a master of his chosen field at work, and for once he could properly appreciate it all. Snape had nothing on Flitwick when the small man really got into things!

An unidentifiable amount of time later the black letter that Harry still held burst into angry, poisonous green flames, and Flitwick finally sat back down, sweaty and tired, but looking happier than he had in ages. "All the spells are gone, Mr. Ookami, there isn't a single one left from those damned Death Eaters!"

"Thank you, Flitwick-san." Harry said, his eyes warm and kind, and no one who saw him at that moment would ever think that he could bring himself hurt even a fly.

"Think nothing of it!" came the exited reply. "I haven't had such a challenge in quite a while! I should be thanking _you_!"

Harry just smiled indulgently underneath his mask.

-x-x-x-x-

"-How are you feeling, Kimimaro?-" Harry asked. It was later that very same day, and since no one seemed to need him during the clean-up work after the fight he had taken the chance to visit Kimimaro.

"-Much better, Harry-onii-sama,-" came the smiled reply, and it was true. The young bone-manipulator looked loads better, and he was easily sitting up in the bed whilst reading a book that had been translated into Japanese for him. It was a fantasy novel, '_The Lord of the Rings_' if Harry wasn't mistaken, and Kimimaro seemed to enjoy it immensely. On his bedside table, along with the water pitcher, the glass, the fresh flowers, and a small plate of healthy snack, Harry spotted an already well-worn copy of '_The Hobbit_' lying about. "-Pomfrey-san is a wonderful nurse, on par with Tsunade-san, the sannin!-"

Harry smiled, and for once it could be seen since his mask was resting on his forehead, ready to be pulled down if someone entered. "-Listen, Kimmy-chan, there are certain rules you must follow and things you must know whilst you are here. One: the Minster of Magic, Scrimgeour, will probably come to both interrogate you and to try to make you into a poster boy for the war once he gets wind of the fact that you are staying here. Tell him nothing and agree to nothing if you can avoid it, you better ask McGonagall-san to cast a Translation spell on you when the Minister comes to that the official Ministry translator doesn't purposely say something wrong, if you get my drift.-"

"-Hai. I understand that. What shall I tell the Minister when he comes?-"

"-Tell him that you are an envoy sent by a Hidden Village – omit to telling him which if you can, but if not you can say Otogakure since it's not a recognised official Hidden Village yet – and that you are here to see if the 'wondrous' skills of the 'magnificent' wand-shinobi can cure your sickness – don't be afraid of laying on the praise too thickly, but be careful around this guy, he's a smart man despite his willingness to become a politician. And if that isn't enough, mention that you also act as a scout for the Hidden Villages to see if it would be safe for us to send our Academy students and gennin here on a sort of exchange program. He'll love that and treat you as a king, all politicians are the same in that aspect.-"

"-And if he asks why the shinobi want an outpost in the wizarding world?-"

"-Counter with the fact that since they have several on the Shinobi Continent, we have a right to have, at the very least, _one_ in the wizarding world.-"

Kimimaro smiled, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "-Of course. Is there anything else?-"

"-Watch out for Voldemort,-" Harry continued. "-He is the Dark Lord, and it's against him the wand-shinobi are waging a war. He has already contacted me under the belief that he can hire me for an assassination mission or that I can bring more shinobi to his side. Once he learns of your stay he will probably do the same to you. Anything that is black or green, with the mark of a skull or a snake, or that you don't recognise, you should simply throw away, and at once get either McGonagall-san or Flitwick-san to check you for any spells and enchantments that might have activated upon contact with the object.-"

"-Is it really necessary, Harry-onii-sama?-" Kimimaro asked curiously. He would do exactly what the older man had told him to, but he wanted to know if it was really necessary.

Harry nodded. "-It is. Do not underestimate Voldemort and his Death Eaters, they can be all over the place. And remember that time I told you about the special technique that wand-shinobi have that makes them able to take the form of an animal? Always keep that in mind!-" the green-eyed man sighed. "-I'm afraid that it's not a peaceful world I am leaving you in, Kimmy-chan.-"

"-I don't mind, and the people here are very friendly.-"

"-Hmm, just make sure that you don't get too friendly. I have already acquired a group of obsessive fangirls, and it's freaking me out. They seem to pop out virtually everywhere! I tell you, if a shinobi was that good then we'd never ever get caught by anyone, no matter what kind of mission we were on.-" Harry smiled as he watched Kimimaro laughing. He hadn't sent he younger man laugh in what seemed like ages.

"-Once again, Harry-onii-sama, it can't be _that_ bad!-" Kimimaro said as he dried the happy tears that had leaked from his eyes.

Harry snorted. "-Just you wait until you're out of here, brat! A young man in a large school of hormone-driven males and females, handsome and single, not to mention one of the 'mysterious' people form the Shinobi Continent. They'll be on you like bees to honey, and stick themselves to you like leeches. The ringleader is a young woman called Elizabeth Walsh. She told those little vultures where my rooms had been situated, and I think she also gave them the password. Luckily for me that I changed it.-"

Kimimaro laughed once again. "-Alright, alright, I get it, no giving out information to the obsessive fangirl-vultures.-"

"-I mean it, Kimmy-chan. These people are so much more naïve than what you are used to, and in their naivety they can cause so much trouble for us all.-"

At that point in time there was a gentle nock on the door, and Harry hastily pulled his mask down before it opened and Madame Pomfrey stuck her head inside.

"Mr. Ookami, Headmistress McGonagall asks for your presence in her office immediately." The nurse said, but she didn't look happy. "But before you go, will you be kind enough to ask the young man how he feels? We have some trouble understanding one another seeing as we don't know each other's languages, and acting only gets you so far."

This time Harry was the one to chuckle. He quickly relayed Madame Pomfrey's words to Kimimaro, and after assuring the nurse on the young bone-manipulator's comfort and no lack of anything, he left the two to act out their wishes and questions, and headed towards the office of Headmistress McGonagall. Once he reached the gargoyle that guarded the spiral staircase, he said the proper password – McGonagall had continued the sweets-tradition – and once he reached the door to the office he knocked politely and waited for the affirmative 'come in'. He did as bid and entered the room.

A rather unhappy looking McGonagall sat behind her desk, her lips only a thin, pale line, her black eyes hard, and her entire face showing general unpleasantness. In front of the desk sat Rufus Scrimgeour, and also the guy who was – Harry supposed – the head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement.

Paying no attention to the other two Harry turned towards the headmistress. "You wanted me, McGonagall-san?"

"Unfortunately it wasn't me, Mr. Ookami, but the Minister of Magic. Mr. Ookami, this is Rufus Scrimgeour the Minister of Magic. Minister, this is Ookami of the Konohagakure ANBU." McGonagall made the necessary introductions quickly and coldly, clearly disapproving of whatever it was that the Ministry had cooked up this time.

Scrimgeour stood up from his seat, a rather forced and fake smile on his face. "-Ookami-san,-" he said in Japanese. "-How good see you too is to!-"

Harry's eyebrow twitched under the mask. _'Here we go with the horrible mispronunciations again. I am going to be scarred by this for the rest of my life.'_ He focused back on the Minister who had continued babbling. "Minister, there is no need to make a fool out of yourself in trying to speak a tongue- no, correct phrase is: a _language_ that you do not know. I speak your tongue good enough. Why did you send for me?"

Scrimgeour blinked in surprise, then quickly put himself together. "Well, seeing as we have such an important guest with us here at Hogwarts, the wizarding world of the United Kingdom wishes to do something special. And as representatives of the people, this pleasant task falls upon us of the Ministry."

'_I have a bad feeling about this.'_ Harry swallowed.

"It will be a great even in the history of the wizarding world. We wizards have already been to the Shinobi Continent with the caravan, but this is the first time one of you comes to our world since several years before the rise of the Dark Lord Grindelwald. Therefore," Scrimgeour paused to add to the dramatic effect.

'_Here it comes.'_ The green-eyed man nearly whimpered.

"Therefore I will personally give you a tour of our most famous and important shopping district, Diagon Alley, tomorrow afternoon. What say you to that, Mr. Ookami?"

What Harry wanted to do was bang his head on the closest and hardest surface available, correction: he wanted to bang Scrimgeour's head on the closest and hardest surface available. However, he did none of these things, and instead simply stared at the man in front of him wondering if he could escape this in some way. The worst thing was, he decided after a minute or two in thought, that he had no way of getting out of it and that he would probably have to be paraded around like the Ministry's newest super-weapon of the war. His eyebrow twitched again at that thought.

"Minister Scrimgeour," Harry began, his voice dangerously low. "If I am to agree to this, then you are to agree to some of my rules as well. Do we have a deal?"

"Now, see here-" the Head of the Department for Magical Law Enhancement spoke up.

"Do we have a deal, Minister?" Harry cut the guy off.

Scrimgeour didn't seem to happy, especially since he had no idea what kind of demands Harry would make. But just like Harry he had no way out of this without losing face, so he nodded in agreement. "Agreed." He bit through his teeth.

"Yoróshiì!" (_Good!_) Harry smirked slightly behind his mask, he was about to show the Minister that just because he was a shinobi for hire, it didn't mean that he would allow everyone to walk all over him. "First things first, Minister. One: you shall keep all reporters away, and there will be no press conference – tomorrow or at any other time whilst I am here, which won't be for much longer. Two: there shall be no horde of your aurors or those Unable-to-speak following me around, or pushing people away for me to get through. Three: give me time to explore the place on my own, you can go whatever important stuff you do in the mean time. If I were interested in the history of this _Diagonally_ I would simply ask McGonagall-san here for a… a… what is the word… reco-recro-"

"Recommendation?" the elderly headmistress suggested gently, her eyes twinkling at the way the Ministry's plans were being thwarted. "And it's Diagon _Alley_."

"Yes, thank you, McGonagall-san. I would ask her for a recommendation for a scroll or a book and then either seek the public library, or buy it whilst I am in Diagon Alley." Harry sent the Minister a sly look. "I assume that is satisfactory to you, Scrimgeour-dono? You have more important things to do than lead a simple ANBU around the market, no?"

Once again Scrimgeour was caught in the net, and he couldn't refuse. "Very well, I will make sure of this, but do not blame me if the reporters do show up anyway. News travel exceedingly fast here in the wizarding world."

"Yes, I have taken notice of that," Harry nodded, a shudder going down his spine at the thought of the obsessed fangirls.

"Excellent! Then I shall be here directly after breakfast tomorrow, I hope you will be ready by then, Mr. Ookami." Scrimgeour and his companion stood up and walked to the door. "Good night to you both, Headmistress, Mr. Ookami."

"May you have a better night than we had a day," his companion added, and then the two were gone.

Harry sunk down into the vacated chair with a sigh. "Tomorrow's going to be hell, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so." McGonagall nodded. "Not only do you have that tour, but the Order is also meeting later that very same day, around seven in the afternoon."

"If the tour isn't done by then – which I believe it won't be – I will simply let a Kage Bunshin take over." Harry groaned.

"Why can't you use a _Kage Bun-shin_ from the start?"

"Because if someone bumped into it hard enough, it would go up into smoke. Not very diplomatic." The green-eyed man looked at the headmistress. "Are Fred and George still running that joke shop of theirs?"

She nodded. "They are quite popular, you won't believe how much trouble we have nowadays with their products."

"Good. I need to visit them then. There's something I need."

"Oh? And if you don't mind my asking, what might that be?"

Harry smirked. "I need a communication medallion for Kimmy-chan."

-x-x-x-x-

There, that's yet another chapter done. Please tell me what you think.

Some of you seem to have misunderstood the battle in the last chapter a bit. Harry wasn't the only one who fought: the aurors and the Unspeakables did so as well, I simply followed Harry throughout the entire thing instead of trying to explain the chaos – which would've been quite impossible.

The horcruxes will really enter into the story once Harry returns to the Shinobi Continent. I know it seems like there hasn't been much done about them up until now, but please bear with me and wait patiently. I promise you that I haven't forgotten about them, and everything _will_ be explained.

Thanks to:

The Insane Imortal Dragon, Adnexus, darksentinant, RBMIfan, A, Midnight Sorrows, Kaaera, FireAngel8723, Irishnut666, hittocerebattosai, simalol, Tokyo no Ecchi, TanyaPotter, Monks N More, Yue Ryong – Shadowborne, dark672, BasicallyAnIdiot, firmin, Lila Mae, Tessa-chan, Tombadgerlovk, Morrolan, Eadha Ohn, NamelessHeretic, Fattyaddy-99, Z-AKA Andrea-, Meemei, Knives, cheerful-pinkstar, polabear, candidus-lupus-full Moon, Kirokokori, arsenic-graffiti, Kitta-Baby, simpleinsanity, Suma goddess of darkness, Ol' Ollie, magerm, MiruSedna, Shini, ShadowObscurity, I-Y-T-Y, AceZ-Shadow, kaeden, Bob the Almighty, Imber, silvergrac3, Wolven Spirits, neosildrake, Night Wanderer, and kobisaki.


	21. Chapter 21

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** I am sorry about the long wait for this chapter – and any other – but seeing as the exams are coming up, my teachers decided to increase the workload to make sure we know everything we're supposed to. It's hell, quite frankly. Either way, enjoy the chapter!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Twenty-One**

The Minister did as he had promised. Bright and early the next morning he strode into the Great Hall with a horde of Ministry personnel following him. Some were carrying various bundles of cloth and bags, some were Aurors, and a couple was even the official Ministry reporters – the ones who were employed by the Ministry to make it look good in the papers. Anyways, the group garnered a lot of attention seeing as it was in the middle of breakfast, and almost every single student was there. Up until the group's arrival, everyone had been staring at the lone ANBU up at the Teachers table, desperately trying to see what exactly happened whenever the man took a bite of his breakfast. It had evolved into something of a hobby, but no one had managed to spot the exact moment it happened, and lots of weird rumours had grown up as a result of this.

Either way, Harry simply looked up when the Minister strode into the Hall and up to the table, then took a last bite of his breakfast, before he focused on the Minister who was by now standing right in front of him. "Good morning, Scrimgeour-dono." He said politely to the other man, and nodded his head slightly.

"Well, Mr. Ookami, are you ready for our grand day out?" Scrimgeour asked.

"Hai," Harry replied and stood up. "After you, Mini-!" his sentence was cut off with a yelp as he was suddenly surrounded by most of the Ministry personnel, all of these carrying various bags and pieces of clothes. "… ano… what is going on?"

"Hmm." One witch said as she critically looked the slightly taller man up and down, then she turned towards the Minister. "You were right, Minister, this man has no sense of fashion at all. It was wise of you to call us in," she shook her head sadly, and then mentioned to the others. Together the group started pushing and guiding Harry towards the door leading into the room connected to the Great Hall where the champions of the Triwizard Tournament had met. "Give us half-an-hour at the most and he'll be presentable. You won't even recognise him," she said and the door banged shut after her.

McGonagall blinked. "Minister Scrimgeour, what was all that about?" she asked of the man that now occupied Harry's vacated chair.

"Nothing to worry about at all." One of the Minister's secretaries replied. "After discussing the matter last night, we reached the decision that Mr. Ookami is not dressed appropriately, and would embarrass the Minister if they were seen together out in public. Therefore we've taken it upon ourselves to rectify the problem before we set out. As I said, there is nothing to worry about, Headmistress McGonagall."

"If someone dies in there, let it be known that I had nothing at all to do with it and that it wasn't the fault of anyone here at Hogwarts. Just so we're clear on the matter!" McGonagall exclaimed.

The secretary chuckled. "Now, now, there's no need for that! Mr. Ookami will surely survive a change of clothes."

"It's not Mr. Ookami I'm worried about!" the elderly headmistress mumbled to Flitwick who sat on her other side. The small Master of Charms sighed and nodded in agreement, then everyone continued to stare at the closed doors, awaiting what would happen next with bated breaths.

Inside the closed room, Harry was desperately trying to keep his wits about him and not go on a killing spree. The witches and wizards that had ushered him in here and had totally ignored his protests, were now circling him. They were also prodding him with their wands, taking measurements, or feeling up his muscles for some strange reason – most of the women did this with great delight, but he was sure there was a wizard or two amongst them. One had even pinched his but under the pretence of testing the material of his pants. All the while they were making comments on his choice of attire, on him, and everything else as if he wasn't there at all, or as if he couldn't understand them.

His eyebrow was starting to tick again. He found it to be an increasingly common occurrence in the wizarding world.

"That sword has got to go." One wizard commented as he poked the katana which was strapped to Harry's back. "Totally useless, and so not cool. Not fashionable at all!"

"What's with those bandages?" a witch wondered. "Did he hurt himself?"

"If he did we will have to work extra hard to cover it, perhaps with makeup?" another replied and looked closely at the bandages in question.

"Excuse me-" Harry tried but was cut off.

"What an atrocious hairstyle, dearie, and that mask!" another wizard exclaimed as he ran his hands through Harry's hair. The wizard _tsk_-ed and shook his head. "No, won't do at all! Honestly, who wears a mask these days? It's not very popular since the Death Eaters showed up, so you better get rid of it."

"Do you think we could use these long, black fingerless gloves for something?"

"NO! Those have just _got_ to go!"

"People-" the green-eyed man tried again.

"Look at that tattoo! A tribal tattoo perhaps? Gives a more ruggedly look."

The witch who was apparently the leader of the group, spoke up now as she stood directly in front of Harry. "Now, Mr. Ookami, dear. We are going to dress you up properly so that you won't embarrass the Minister out in public. You should follow our advice because we know what's good for you when it comes down to fashion."

"You don't know what's good for yourself." Harry growled and batted away another hand on its way to pinch his posterior, then tried non-successfully to avoid another witch who wanted to felt up his muscles.

"This weird armour can't stay!" the witch exclaimed when she had finally gotten enough of admiring what was underneath said armour. "Can't hide such a wonderful body under such atrocious rags as these!"

A wizard was searching for the clasp which held the katana secured to the wolf-masked ANBU's back. "We'll take good care of these… these… _things_ for you."

"Don't worry, dearie," the head-witch said as she started to unwind the bandages that kept the shuriken and kunai holsters to Harry's thigh, the holsters themselves had already been removed. "You'll get them back as soon as you return. Besides, nothing's going to happen whilst you are with the Minister. There'll be many Aurors all over the place."

"I'm warning you to-" no one listened.

"Red and white really aren't your colours, love." Yet another witch demanded as she gazed at the mask. "Please take this hideous mask off." She reached out with her hands, her fingers running through the longish, black hair which was no longer tied back in a short ponytail thanks to someone, and searched for the binding that kept the ANBU-mask in place. "Ah, here it is!"

It was at this point that Harry snapped completely. One moment the witches and wizards were trying to disrobe the ANBU Squad Commander, and the next the entire room was filled with such oppressive killer intent that several of them fell to their knees. Others froze, their eyes wide in terror, and others yet again tried to get away, but only managed to stumble backwards and trip over something.

Harry, on the other hand, could move perfectly, and he easily stepped closer to the witch who had been leading the others. Taking a solid grip of her fancy robes, and lifted the terrified woman up to eyelevel. "Now you listen to me, woman, and listen good, for this definitely concerns future well-being of yours." He growled to her, sounding remarkably like the animal after which his mask had been modelled. "I am not here to move to your music, McGonagall-san hired me, not the Ministry. I came dressed as I am, I've gone around dressed as I am, and I'm going back in the same clothes I now wear. No thing you and your friends do will change that."

"B-but the Minister-!" the wizard who had tried to take his katana, protested weakly, then squeaked when the ANBU rounded on him.

"I care no thing if the Minister likes my clothes or if he doesn't! I. am. _NOT_. Changing. Them!" with that, Harry dropped the witch and then stalked towards the exit of the room. He kicked the door open, and it hit the wall with a resounding boom, then he continued to stalk out into the Great Hall which was silent as a tomb.

The Minister's secretary was the first to gather his wits. "Eh, Mr. Ookami, why aren't you dress-" his sentence was cut off when Harry grabbed him around the neck, and kind of pushed/threw the guy away. The man traversed a large distance before he finally fell onto the middle of the Slytherin table. Everyone stared with wide eyes. The killing intent in the air hadn't been felt since the day when the ANBU first arrived at the school.

Harry didn't care about any of this, instead he stalked up to the Minister and swung the man's chair around violently. "Minister Scrimgeour. We need to have a serious speak about what was supposed to happen in that room."

"Is there something wrong, Mr. Ookami?" Scrimgeour asked, holding his ground admiringly under the current pressure.

"I want to make one thing clear, Minister," the ANBU Squad Commander hissed dangerously. "I am wearing standard ANBU uniform, and that I will wear no matter where we go. I do not care for your reputation, or for anything else. Either I go as I please, or we will not be going anywhere – whether it be horizontally or diagonally. If you insist upon this matter, someone _will_ get hurt."

"But you cannot go as you are," Scrimgeour pointed out, a small smirk on his face. "You will attract too much attention the way you are dressed."

"I will put on cloak of mine, and that is all. Do you understand me?"

The Minister simply nodded, then leaned closer to the pissed-off ANBU. "Now _I_ want to make one thing clear."

"And that is?"

"This whole thing wasn't my idea," Scrimgeour said with a sigh. "It's another damn publicity stunt. Look what they stuffed _me_ into! You're lucky enough to have a reason to get out of being dressed up like a doll, but I don't."

Harry's eyes narrowed. Although the Minister was dressed up in a gaudy robe which no self-respecting ninja would be caught dead in – and that's heavy criticism when one knew just how weirdly ninja outfits could turn out to be – Harry wasn't totally sure if he should trust the man. It could simply be a way of saving face, of he could be telling the truth. Considering what he knew of Scrimgeour from before, the green-eyed man was willing to lean slightly more towards the truthfulness of the statement, but he wouldn't bet his life on it.

"Well then, shall we get going?" the Minister asked as he stood up and straightened his robes. "Come along everyone." He ordered as he walked through the silent hall and towards the exit.

Harry sighed and pulled his ANBU Squad Commander cloak from his utility pouch, and put it on. _'This is going to be total hell. Hokage-san better pay me extra for putting up with these fools.'_

-x-x-x-x-

It was well into the afternoon when Harry finally managed to get away from the Ministry group. Percy Weasley of all people had met them at the gates of Hogwarts, and then they had taken a portkey to the Leakey Cauldron. From there they had passed into Diagon Alley. The rest of the tour was filled to the brim with boredom as Percy gave a very detailed history of the shopping district itself, and also any and all shops which Harry showed interest in. Even the Minister and the accompanying Aurors and reporters had looked ready to fall asleep where they were walking, and Harry was sure that he had seen a small chessboard floating between two of the Aurors. If that wasn't enough, then people had started to notice what was going on, and word had spread like fire, and now there were more and more people in Diagon Alley, all trying to get a glimpse of the mysterious man from the legendary Shinobi Continent. Either way, Harry had finally managed to get away from the group, and they had all agreed to meet in the Leaky Cauldron in two hours time.

'_You'd think they expected me to be small, green, and have six eyes or something.'_ The green-eyed ANBU growled to himself as people stared, stared and continued to stare. He was currently pretending to look around the shops, occasionally buying something for his friends back on the Shinobi Continent, whilst slowly but surely making his way towards the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. He couldn't make it seem like he knew where he was going, or that he had a purpose with going there, and what annoyed him was that people refused to get back to their own bloody business.

He was seriously going to hurt someone soon if they didn't stop staring.

In hopes of losing some of the gaping pursuers, Harry entered Flourish and Blotts. The clerk behind the desk looked up, gasped and then continued gaping like an idiot for a whole minute, before he put himself together enough to ask if there was something the ANBU needed help with.

"No, thank you. I am looking simply." Harry replied and then quickly made his way through the shelves towards the Defence section. Right before reaching said section, he froze and stared wide-eyed at a certain little orange book-collection. That's right, _Icha Icha Paradise_ stood there in all its glory, and several young men – and even women – were gathered around, giggling and blushing as they read the back of the covers, or looked at the pictures.

'_I see you're busy corrupting the minds of not only shinobi but also wizards, Jiraiya.'_ He thought to himself in amusement, then turned his attention back to the books he was looking through. He couldn't buy any books now, it would look too suspicious, but he could let one of the Order's agents do it, and then they would send the books to him with the next trading caravan.

After spending as much time as he could spare in Flourish and Blotts, and making his way down the cramped Diagon Alley, Harry finally reached his objective: Weasley Wizard Wheezes. He quickly entered the shop, and walked between the shelves after casting a quick look around. There was a young woman reading some sort of fashion magazine behind the counter, but Harry couldn't approach her. Instead he traversed the shelves, genuinely interested in the products the twins had come up with, whilst he discretely used the communication medallion to call the twins and let them know that he was there.

It didn't take long before both Fred and George appeared from the back of the shop. They blinked in surprise upon spotting the ANBU Squad Commander, then grinned widely as they realised exactly who the person was. There were only a handful of the Order's agents that had managed to become shinobi, and there were only two who could have worn that particular cloak: one was Ron and the other was Harry. And when they spotted the black hair, they knew at once which one it was.

"-ANBU-san!-" Fred exclaimed in accented Japanese. "-How wonderful to see you after all this time!-"

"-Yes, indeed it is!-" George chimed in, before he switched over to English again. "Is there something we can help you with, sir?"

Harry grinned underneath his mask. Kami-sama, how he had missed these two pranksters. "I think there is. I bring a letter from your brother."

"Well then! Come right in here, my good man, and we shall see what we can do." Fred held the curtain that covered the entrance to the back rooms, and mentioned for Harry to step through. "After you, George."

"Why, thank you, my good sir!" George grinned.

The twins led Harry through the house until they ended up in the living room. Everyone sat down, and Harry pulled his hood down, but didn't dare take off his mask. "Weasley-san and Weasley-san, how nice it is to meet you. Your brother has spoken about you often."

"How is he?" Fred asked.

"You said you had a letter for us, Mr. Ookami?"

"Aa, the letter is at Hogwarts in the custody of McGonagall-san." The green-eyed ANBU decided to get down to business. Therefore whilst he was doing small talk with the twins verbally, his fingers were tapping a message on his knee in Morse code. **'I need a communication medallion stop And I need your help stop'**

George nodded slightly, then stood up. "I'll get us some cookies, brother of mine. A friend of Ron is a friend of ours, and he will need something to fill his stomach if he is to survive the rest of the afternoon with the Ministry and Percy."

"Good idea, Gred," Fred replied. "The cookies will arrive soon. Perhaps you should take some with you?" he said to the ANBU whilst his own fingers were tapping on the table. **'Easier to hidethe medallionbetween all the cookies stop'**

"Excellent. I thank you for your offer, and I accept it."

It didn't take long before George re-entered the room, a plate of cookies in one hand, and a bag full of them in another. "Here you go!" he said with a grin as he put the plate on the table and handed the bag to Harry. "Hope you enjoy them, it's one of our mother's recipes." He declared proudly as he sat down. **'The medallion is disguised as a star-shaped cookie stop It is the hardest one of the bunch stop'**

**'You mentioned you needed our expertise stop'** Fred added. "Well, Mr. Ookami, we are very honoured that you took the time to bring us our brother's letter, and that you took the time to drop by."

Harry nodded. **'I need your skills in creating havoc stop'** he tapped out in Morse code, whilst they continued to chat about the twins' shop out loud to keep up appearances.

'**When and where stop'**

'**To distract the Ministry whilst I get away stop I need to pay a long-overdue visit to a certain Dudley Dursley stop'**

'**You can count us in stop with exclamation mark'** Both twins tapped out, and grinned. They had been the ones that accidentally discovered that Dudley hadn't been killed along with Vernon and Petunia that night eighteen years ago. No, at that time Dudley had told his parents he was going to sleep over at a friend's house, but he and his gang had gone to a strip bar amongst other things, and had spent a heck of a lot of money.

'**How much time do you need to prepare stop'** Harry asked them, a small smirk spreading across his masked face.

'**Give us fifteen to twenty minutes at the most stop'** Fred replied, then stood up. "I thank you for everything you've done for us, Mr. Ookami. Our mother will be relieved to hear how her youngest son has been getting along so far from home." He said as they all headed towards the front of the shop again.

"Mary, please close the shop." George said to the young girl that watched the counter. "We need to get home, a letter from Ron has arrived."

"Like, that's so cool, like." The teenage girl said, then her eyes landed on the ANBU Squad Commander. "Why, like hello, stranger!" she tried to flash her cleavage, not that there was much.

Harry and the twins totally ignored her tries to flirt, and focused on each other and their upcoming tasks instead.

"Thank you again, Mr. Ookami," Fred said and performed a short bow, though he was careful to make it look slightly awkward. Everyone knew that the twins had gone to the Shinobi Continent with the trading caravan, it was public knowledge! But no one knew exactly how many times the two had actually been there, nor the exact reason as to why. Everyone thought they went in search of new exciting ingredients and ideas for their products, and even though that was part of the reason it wasn't the _entire_ reason.

"Yes, thank you," George added, and copied his brother.

"No reason to thank me, Weasley-san and Weasley-san." Harry replied and performed an equally short bow in return. "Ron-kun is good friend of mine. And I thank you for the crooks… cools… cooks… ano…"

"Cookies."

"Hai, that is the word! I thank you for the cookies you gave to me."

George grinned. "Anytime! You can't come to the United Kingdom and not try some good, old-fashioned cookies." They all exchanged another couple of polite phrases before Harry really needed to get going, and the twins disappeared into the shop again to get ready for the commotion they were about to cause.

Harry sighed and made his way quickly towards the Leaky Cauldron. Before he could apparate unnoticed to Privet Drive – where Dudley still lived – he needed to get into muggle London. And to get into London proper, he needed to pass through the Leaky Cauldron preferably without being noticed. However, that seemed rather impossible – even for someone of his level of skill – because the entire pub was full of reporters. There seemed to be hundreds of them, and some were clearly not British in any way. It seemed like someone had finally notified the various newspapers that a shinobi was in Diagon Alley, and the word had spread faster than Orochimaru's Cursed Seal.

'_In short,' _Harry thought to himself as he observed the insanity from a shadowy corner. _'Fred and George need to make that diversion a damn good one.'_

No sooner than he had started thinking up various ways of getting out of Diagon Alley unnoticed, than there was a large explosion from the direction of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The explosion shook the earth and rattled the windows of the houses, and thick, black smoke started to rise into the sky. People stood in shock for a moment, before they all jumped into action. Some ran into various shops in fear of it being a Death Eater attack, whilst others ran out of the shops for that very same reason. Others again started to run towards the explosion to find out what the devil had happened, whilst some – having gotten used to the various small explosions coming from the twins' shop at odd hours of the day – ignored it completely and continued with their business as if nothing had happened. These were the really smart ones, and the ones that posed most danger to Harry as he made his way through the chaos and panic. Luckily he made it to the Leaky Cauldron without trouble, the reporters and Ministry officials had run towards the explosion thinking that their foreign guest had gotten into serious trouble. Seeing as the pub was completely abandoned of life it was easy to slip into muggle London where a simple _henge_ helped him to blend in. Then he found a secluded spot and apparated as close to number 4 Privet Drive as he dared to. The rest he could cover on foot.

Time hadn't been kind to the neighbourhood of Privet Drive. Houses stood abandoned, windows were shattered and boarded up, paint peeled off the walls, and gardens weren't tended. Rusty cars stood in the middle of the street, homeless people and drug abusers could be found here and there, and every woman seemed to be a whore. It was a sad sight in general, but Harry ignored it all and quickly made his way towards number 4, his steps purposeful and measured, and no one was stupid enough to try to get in his way. They recognised him as a hunter, and no one wanted to get on his bad side.

Harry raised an eyebrow at the shabby state that number 4 was in, before he rang the doorbell. It didn't take long before he heard a deep, male voice shouting: "Bonnie, get the damn door!"

This was followed by hurried footsteps, and the front door was barely cracked open by a shaking woman. "Y-yes?" she practically whispered, half of her face hidden in the shadows.

Bringing out all his charm and a slight amount of chakra to calm the woman, Harry smiled at her kindly and nodded his head politely. "Excuse me, madam, but is this the residence of the Dursley family?"

She nodded slightly.

"Excellent, I wasn't sure I'd gotten the correct house. Do I have the honour of addressing the one and only lovely Mrs Dursley?"

Before she could reply, the same male voice shouted from inside the house: "What's taking so long, woman? Who's at the door?"

Bonnie Dursley seemed to shrink into herself. "I-it's a… it's a man, Dudley. I… he…"

"Is he from the social services or something?" the voice, which apparently belonged to Dudley, shouted. Then there was a lot of huffing and puffing and finally the man himself showed up in the hallway behind his wife. "Oi, who the hell are you?"

From what the green-eyed man could see, Dudley hadn't changed much. He was still fat and lazy, though he seemed to have developed a beer-belly, and his clothes were dirty and he stank as if he hadn't had a decent bath in weeks. However, he seemed slightly thinner, and his muscles didn't seem to be totally out of use, which meant that Harry needed to be very careful not to piss his cousin off. At least not until he was safely inside the house, and the door was shut and locked. Harry cranked up the charm another notch. "Ah, and this must be the lucky Mr. Dudley Dursley! What a lovely wife you have sir, and a wonderful luck, even if I do say so myself!"

"What's going on? Who are you? Are you here because you want a one-night stand with a clean woman? It'll cost you twenty bucks."

"Why, don't you remember sir!" Harry tried to ignore the last comment, but he noticed the way Bonnie Dursley lowered her head in shame. His smile, which had been slightly forced in the beginning, turned down right fake.

However, Dudley didn't seem to notice. "Remember what? I've paid off my gambling debts, dammit!"

"No, no, sir, you misunderstand me! I'm not here to collect any debts at all! Quite the opposite, actually."

"Huh?"

"Your lottery coupon, sir! You've won the entire jackpot, my good man! Two million pounds!"

There was a long silence. Bonnie Dursley just stood there, her mouth open in surprise, whilst Dudley blinked rapidly as he tried to process what the hell had been said. "But I didn't get no coupon…" the fat man said finally.

The green-eyed man acted shocked. "You didn't! Then why do we have your name…? Oh dear, oh dear, there must've been a very big mistake. I am terribly sorr-" he got no further than that because he was suddenly and rather carelessly dragged through the front door and into the house. The woman was pushed out of the way as if she was a worthless possession, and then promptly ignored whilst Dudley focused on sucking up to Harry.

"No! No! I remember now, of course, how silly of me!" Dudley declared and locked the door as a force of habit. "Two million, you say? Well, I never thought I would win anything when I registered, but one never knows! Bonnie, get a glass of beer to celebrate!"

Harry smirked in triumph. "Nothing for me, Mrs Dursley, I won't be staying here long."

"Yes sir." Bonnie Dursley said. She noticed the small smirk covering the strange man's lips, and she couldn't be sure if it was a good smirk or a bad smirk. Either way, she had a strange feeling that things were about to change drastically. She hurried into the kitchen when her husband glared at her.

Dudley led the way into the living room. The furniture were as shabby as the neighbourhood itself, and all over the place were empty beer bottles and cans, dirty laundry, old pizza boxes with mouldy food, and the place didn't seem to have gotten a good dusting in ages. The windows were grimy, tape and cardboard covering several holes, and one was even completely boarded up. Dudley quickly hurried over to the sofa, pushed everything on it to the floor and then patted the seat beside himself in clear invitation for the other man to sit down. Being an ANBU Squad Commander Harry was smart enough not to sit down directly beside a potentially dangerous man, and instead chose to sit down in a wooden chair which wobbled dangerously.

"I'm afraid I didn't quite catch your name, Mr….?" Dudley opened the conversation, his speech becoming clearer and more sophisticated, more like the Queen's English he had learned during his years at Smeltings.

"That is unfortunate, because my name should be very familiar to you, Dudley." Harry replied as he looked around the room.

"Er, it should?" the fat man wondered, suddenly thrown out of the loop again.

"Definitely, considering we spent nearly seventeen years of our lives together in the same house. This very house, in fact. Granted, you and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't pay much attention to me during those years, but still, we _were_ family despite the fact that I was a freak, as you would say."

The gears in Dudley's head started to work slowly, his face paling slightly as he realised exactly whom it was he had just let into his home. "… impossible… how did… where did…. _You_!" the last word was filled with anger and accusation and Dudley jumped up.

Harry let the _henge_, and stood up as well, making an impressive figure in his ANBU uniform. He lifted his wolf-shaped mask to rest on his forehead, clearly revealing the infamous scar, his hard green eyes, and the dangerous smirk playing on his lips. "Hello again, dear cousin. Missed me?"

-x-x-x-x-

There, please tell me what you think.

Hmm, not much to say this time around since most of it's been said in the Author's Note at the top of the chapter. There is one thing though: I never thought I would write a story which went over a hundred thousand words. Now there's a shock for a small-time author.

Thanks to:

Shinobi's Fire, The Insane Imortal Dragon, Kitta Baby, Night Wanderer, FireAngel8723, Kaaera, Knives, NamelessHeretic, Shinigami's-Koibito, simpleinsanity, Sk8er7, oldmagic, Midnight Sorrows, Meemei, BasicallyAnIdiot, peppymint, Z-AKA Andrea-, Tanya Potter, arsenic-graffiti, QueenOfHalf-BakedIdeas, magerm, Billy, silvergrac3, cheerful-pinkstar, Adnexus, kirallie, Tombadgerlock, hittocerebattosai, firmin, Cyberwing, kaeden, Morrolan, AceZ-Shadow, Lady Threarah, Esther KIm, kobisaki, candidus-lupus-full Moon, Hisshou, Curlz-Shadow Kitsune, primaaryet and san-san-chan-nii-sama-kage.


	22. Chapter 22

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** I have toned down the child abuse now, so it shouldn't be so bad anymore. Beware a bit of swearing in this chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this, and please review!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

_Mommy can you tell me the reason  
__why I have to live like this;  
__as a servant in your house,  
__I'm your child!  
__Tell me!  
_**'Sarah' from the CD "Music Inspired by Da Vinci"**

"Hello again, dear cousin. Missed me?" Harry asked, a smirk on his face as he stared at the other man.

Dudley simply stood there for a moment, his entire body shaking in anger and his face turning more red than Vernon's had ever managed to accomplish. "You…" he growled, clutching his fists tightly. "_FREAK_!" he shouted suddenly, and delivered numerous punches with surprising strength and speed. And he continued to dish out punch after punch, a slightly crazed and desperate look on his face. Harry did nothing to stop Dudley, and simply stood there taking it all in silence.

Somewhere from the sidelines Bonnie Dursley screamed. "Stop it! P-please! Stop!"

Dudley put all his strength and anger into one last punch, and sent the green-eyed man to the ground and skidding straight into an already-rickety shelf overloaded with cups from all the boxing competitions Dudley had ever participated in. The shelf collapsed and fell on top of the ANBU. Dudley stood there for a few minutes, panting heavily, then a triumphant and satisfied smirk spread across his face.

"Oi, woman!"

Bonnie Dursley shrunk into herself as her husband advanced on her. "… y-ye-yes-s…?" she nearly whispered and hid halfway behind the doorframe. She didn't dare look up.

"Didn't I tell you to keep out of my business?" he demanded as he towered over the terrified woman. "Didn't I?"

"… y-yes…" she sunk to the ground, clutching onto the doorframe as if it was a lifeline.

"Then what the hell did you cry out for, you bitch?" Dudley nearly roared and slapped her, and didn't even bat an eyelash when her forehead connected with the edge of the doorframe. "And now you're dirtying my white walls with your blood! You bloody woman!" he lifted his hand to give the covering woman another hard punch, but suddenly found that he couldn't move it at all. "What the…?"

"That's not very nice of you, Dudley," Harry spoke up, his one-handed grip on the other's fat wrist not even straining no matter how much Dudley pulled. "Didn't your parents teach you any manners?" the green-eyed man wondered almost casually.

Dudley whirled around, his jaw dropping upon seeing the ANBU without a single bruise on his body. "How…? What…?"

Harry's other hand shot out, grabbed Dudley's belt and then he swung the enormous man around and sent him nearly flying across the room, and stumbling over the couch. He smirked. "Did you really think those measly little punches were going to hurt me, Dudley? I admit, they had more power than I expected, but compared to other's I've fought with, then those don't even come close." He turned to Bonnie Dursley. "Are you alright, Mrs Dursley?"

She nodded shakily, her eyes wide. "… I… I am."

"Good," Harry smiled kindly to her. "I hope you have nothing against having a chat with me?"

"I-"

Dudley's roar cut her off. "Don't you DARE turn your back on me, you mangy maggot!" he ran up and swung at the black-haired man again.

Harry caught the fist and delivered one of his own punches. This sent Dudley flying once again, and this time he bowled the couch over. Harry turned back to the woman, and crouched down, one knee resting on the old and dirty carpet. He smiled once again, and ignored the woman's rather shocked look. "Well, are you willing? I will not bother you anymore if you decline." He added.

Slowly and hesitantly Bonnie Dursley nodded. "I am." She said, her eyes focusing on the man in front of her.

"Excellent!" Harry's smile lost none of it's kindness, though his eyes grew slightly worried. "That's quite a bruise you have there, Mrs Dursley. Here, I've got something-"

"BASTARD!" Dudley shouted, and tried with all his might to kick his kneeling cousin.

Bonnie Dursley yelped and hid her face with her arms, awaiting for the impact. When there was only a pat-like sound, she opened her eyes and lowered her arms, and stared. Harry had simply caught the foot heading for his head with one hand, his eyes closed, and the smile having disappeared from his now-expressionless face.

"You are starting to annoy me, Dudley." The green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander said simply.

Dudley growled. "Let me go, dammit!" he roared and tried to pull his leg out of the tight grip.

"You have already lost to me twice. Do you really think you stand a chance the third time?" Harry asked, his grip never failing.

"Third time's the charm, isn't that what bastards and fuckers of your inferior kind always say!" Dudley demanded and continued struggling. He ignored the sheathed katana, and started punching the other man's white-armoured back and bare shoulders. "LET GO!"

"One last chance to back away, Dudley. Stop this nonsense right now, and I will let you go with only a couple of bruises." The ANBU tried, but Dudley wasn't listening at all. Harry sighed. "So be it," he muttered. His eyes shot open, the look in them making Bonnie Dursley yelp and back away. He ignored this and he ignored the way Dudley's yelps soon turned into screams of pain, he simply continued tightening his grip on the leg until the bone broke with a sickening snap.

Dudley fell to the ground, his hands clutching his broken leg. "… you… bloody… bastard…" he managed to pant out, glaring at the other man.

Harry didn't even bother to look at his cousin. "Crawl away and leave us be, Dudley, otherwise you'll have more than a simply broken leg."

Dudley glared and growled, but he stopped when Harry's head turned marginally and one green eye stared at him. Dudley's eyes grew, and suddenly he knew what it was to stare death in the face. He managed another growl and started to pull himself along the floor, ignoring the broken leg to the best of his abilities. Once he got to the couch he managed to pull himself into a standing position, and started limping along. It didn't take long before the two in the kitchen heard the lock being removed, being followed by the sound of the outer door opening and slamming shut. Dudley had left the house.

Harry focused back on the woman, a smile once again on his face. "As I was about to say before he interrupted me: I have a little something for that cut, works like a miracle. Here." He held up his hand and revealed a small nicely-decorated box. Seeing that Bonnie Dursley wasn't about to move anytime soon, he sighed and opened the box. Smearing some of the beige ointment on the tips of his own fingers, Harry slowly reached out his hand towards the terrified woman. He ignored her frightened whimper and ignored the way she flinched away from him, and gently rubbed some of the ointment on the horrendous bruise forming on her rapidly-swelling cheek. Once done with that, he turned to the cut and treated it with equal gentleness.

He leaned back and looked over his work. "Unfortunately there is nothing else I can do at the moment," he said. He didn't want to terrify the woman further by using any healing techniques or spells, so this would have to do. "But don't worry, the bruise will disappear before tomorrow, and the cut won't even leave a scar. Now, why don't we go and sit down comfortably before starting out chat, hmm?" He stood and smiled at her, his hand offered and waiting for her to take it.

Bonnie Dursley stared at the hand, then up at the face of the man it belonged to. Bonnie had once found an old photograph in the attic. It was a picture of the Dursley family at a trip to the zoo, but in the corner of the picture – clearly not meant to be there at all – was a small, black-haired, green-eyed, scarred boy. She had heard about him before, Dudley was a very loud and chatty drunk most of the time, and deep down she had hoped that this elusive and mysterious man would show up and make things better. But Dudley had also adamantly talked about how freakish and just how dangerous Harry Potter was, and he had blamed the murder of his parents on the green-eyed man as well. And after seeing just how strong the man was, she was inclined to believe that the man was not normal, but there was also a look in his eyes which she couldn't help but trust. Therefore she grabbed his hand, and was easily hoisted up.

"There you go," Harry said as he helped her settle down on the only chair by the kitchen table. "Now for our little chat."

The woman looked up at him. "If… if y-you're looking for any-anything which the late Mr and Mrs Dursley might have left you, then y-you'll be disappointed. Du-Dudley spent it all and-"

"Don't worry, I'm not here for that. Vernon and Petunia would rather shoot themselves than let me have anything of theirs. Nope, I'm here for a totally different matter." The green-eyed man leaned on the kitchen counter, his pose and manners easy and relaxed. "A couple of my friends only recently found out that Dudley was still alive. I thought he had died with his parents, and I haven't been able to investigate their deaths for myself these past years. Anyway, these friends of mine kept an eye on you for a while, and then they contacted me when they noticed just how atrociously Dudley treated yourself and especially your daughter."

"You spied… Dudley… my daughter…?" Bonnie's eyes grew wide. "My daughter! Wh-what do you want with my daughter!" she demanded. She had focused on the only thing that made sense to her at the moment, and like most mothers she wanted to protect her child come hell or high water.

Harry held up his hands. "Easy there, Mrs Dursley, I don't want anything from your daughter. I simply want to offer her and you a better life."

Bonnie blinked. "… wh-what…?"

"I have several friends who are willing to let you live with them indefinitely, or until you can stand on your own two feet. They are experts in their chosen fields, and will have no trouble keeping you away from Dudley and him away from you. You can leave this life behind, and start all over again in the country of your choice." The woman simply stared agape at him for gods knew how long, and Harry sighed. "No harm will come to you or your daughter."

"You… all this… why…?"

Realizing what she was trying to say, Harry smiled and nodded in understanding. "I simply can't let a child live such a life. By the way, where is your daughter? My friends told me that she never got far into her schooling and certainly never finished it. Is she at a friend's house?"

"No, she isn't." Bonnie Dursley shook her head, then she pointed. "She… she's in the cupboard under the stairs. She's been there since the day before yesterday. She got a few hits from Dudley that night, and he threw her in there like he always does. I can't get to her, Dudley's the only one with the keys."

The minute Harry had heard about the cupboard, he had stiffened and straightened his stance. Now he traversed the distance to the cupboard in a flash of movement, and he crouched down and quickly examined the numerous locks. There was more than one, and all of them were difficult to open without a key, which meant no lock-picking.

"I… I've tried several times to p-pick the locks, but Du-Dudley always caught me. What kind of mother am I if I can't even protect my own child?" Bonnie nearly cried as she watched the ANBU. She sobbed and hiccupped and tried to stem the flow of tears.

Harry had completely ignored her tale, although it was sad he was a shinobi and he had seen, heard of and had even done worse, so he didn't bother with the details. He had looked over the problem, and had found the quickest and best solution. He didn't have the time to pick the locks, and he couldn't kick in the door thusly risking hurt to the girl. He had two choices: he could use magic to open the door and in the process scare poor Bonnie Dursley to death; or he could get some satisfaction out of ripping off the door and stomping it to bits. He decided to rip the door of.

"Wh-what are y-you doing?" Bonnie asked as she got closer.

"Please stand back." Harry warned her. He opened the ventilation-mechanism on the door, gripped the small holes to the best of his abilities, sent some chakra into the wood, and pulled. The door was ripped off and thrown to the side as if it was a piece of paper, and Harry could finally see the girl that was Dudley's daughter. She was small, pale, thin as a rake, and bruises covered her face and arms and legs. She was wearing only a large t-shirt and her underpants. She was dirty, her hair was a mess, and Harry's eyes narrowed dangerously. The girl couldn't be more than twelve at the most. Bonnie Dursley gasped in horror, a fresh set of tears running down her cheeks.

Scooping the girl carefully into his arms, Harry brought her out of the cupboard and quickly walked into the kitchen. He placed her on the table and started to assess the injuries, whilst Bonnie quickly picked up a towel, wetted it, and started to run it across the little girl's forehead.

"What am I to do?" the woman sobbed. "I can't afford the medical bill for this."

Harry didn't even bother replying, instead he started making hand-seals. Once his hands started to glow with a blue-ish light, Harry placed them on the young girl's broken and bruised leg and concentrated on healing everything he could. Shinobi techniques were the best when dealing with wounds. One technique was more or less enough for everything seeing as you sent chakra all over the designated area, whilst with a wand you had to cast one spell for each internal organ that needed healing, and that took too much time. Harry moved from broken bone to broken bone, methodically healing each one. There were a couple of ribs, some fingers, the girl's nose, and one of her legs, but those were quicker and easier to heal, and it didn't use too much of his chakra.

Bonnie Dursley simply stared, agape once again. She watched as the blue light came from Harry's hands, she watched as beads of perspiration formed on the man's forehead, and she watched as her daughter slowly started breathing more normally as if in a resting sleep. Wounds started disappearing, and she didn't know what to think or believe anymore. She had never suspected that her husband's cousin had such powers; heck, she wasn't sure if she was awake anymore. This was all probably a dream and nothing else. It simply _couldn't_ be true! Yet…

Harry stared at the small girl that laid on the table. He was done healing her, and now he had to wait and see if she woke up before he took the next step in his plan. The minutes ticked by, for what seemed like forever, before the girl suddenly groaned and whimpered. Her eyelids started fluttering, then they sprang open, revealing their greenish-brown colour. They focused on Bonnie Dursley first, and Harry retreated slightly and turned his back to them in an attempt to give them a measure of privacy.

"… mom…?" thin, pale lips whispered hoarsely.

Harry smiled to himself as he heard the sounds of a very happy reunion, and focused on their reflections in the window to make sure that everything was alright. The two were hugging tightly, tears of happiness running down both their faces, and there was a fat man hobbling towards the house with at least ten other men and… Harry blinked, shook his head, and focused on the reflections again. No, there was no group of men _in_ the house, but they were on their way _to_ it, and were led by none other than Dudley himself. Noting the various assortment of guns – he wondered how the hell Dudley had gotten a hold of those – Harry cursed and whirled to face the two females.

"I'm sorry to have to break this happy little scene apart, but we need to get out of here immediately." He said, his voice and demeanour slipping into that of an ANBU Squad Commander. "Grab a few necessities which you absolutely cannot do without, and lets get going!"

Bonnie Dursley stared at him for a second, then rushed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. The girl was left sitting on the table, and looking rather confused. She studied the ANBU up and down, stared a the lightning bolt-shaped scar, then finally focused on the green eyes.

"You're dad's cousin, aren't you? Harry Potter." The girl rasped, her voice weak from disuse and probably screaming. "I saw a picture of you once."

Harry nodded. "That would be me." He said simply, then turned to check just how far Dudley and his goons had gotten. They were going rather slowly due to Dudley's broken bone, but they were still much closer than what he felt comfortable with, and he cursed.

Bonnie ran into the kitchen again, a small, old, frayed backpack clutched in her arms. She ran over to her daughter, and shoved it into her arms. "Here. Take this and get out of here."

The girl blinked. "Wha?"

The woman ignored her, and turned to Harry. "Take her away and keep her safe. Take her to those friends of yours, do anything, but keep her safe."

"As you wish." The green-eyed man nodded again, and picked up the girl in a strong, but gentle grip.

"Mom?" the girl whispered. "What about you?"

"I'll be coming wi-" Bonnie started saying, but was cut off when an automatic gun went off and they all had to duck to the floor.

"COME OUT AND FACE ME IF YOU DARE, YOU DAMNED FREAK!" Dudley's voice sounded from outside, and was followed by yet another round of shots.

Harry cursed. "Is there anywhere nearby where you two will be safe?" he demanded of the two females.

"I- yes, yes, there's an empty set of containers just down the street." The girl replied and pointed in the correct direction.

"Good." The ANBU grabbed the woman around the waist, and swung her as gently as he could onto his shoulder. He did the same to the younger girl, then used his incredible speed to cross the room to the closest window which faced in the opposite direction of Dudley and his goons. He kicked the board covering the window into pieces, and jumped out. The houses gave them some cover as they raced through other peoples gardens. Twenty houses down the street they came to the previously mentioned containers, and Harry quickly opened one, and helped the two females into it.

"Not the best of smells, but it'll have to suffice." He said to them in an attempt to cheer them up.

"Aren't… aren't you coming in?" Bonnie asked as she hugged her daughter to her.

"I still have to take care of Dudley."

"But he's got guns!"

The green-eyed man smirked and brought his mask down from where it had rested on his forehead. "I'm not totally defenceless either."

The young girl nodded. "And you've got that incredible speed as well. I've never seen something like that. It's like Superman, or something!"

Harry chuckled. "Keep silent," he told them, then closed the container. In the blink of an eye he had disappeared, and in the next he appeared straight in front of Dudley and the goons, giving most of them quite a scare in the process.

"There he is!" Dudley shouted as he pointed. "Shoot 'im!" he ordered and numerous guns were pointed a the unconcerned ANBU.

"I'll give you all one warning." The green-eyed man told them. "Put down your guns and back away slowly, and no one needs to get hurt."

The men sneered. "As if, mate!"

"We've heard that one before!"

"Motherfucker!"

'_Why is it that the lesser bad guys and their goons never know when to back off?'_ Harry sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you. Just for the record, do you prefer death or broken bones?"

"What the hell are you babbling about, you bastard!"

"Ya won't 'ave the chance te move 'fore we shoot ya!" the goon yelled and cocked his gun. "Now ya'll DIE!" he screamed and started shooting wildly. That seemed to have been the signal, because everyone else opened fire as well, and for a couple of minutes nothing but the sound of the guns could be heard through Privet Drive.

"Where'd 'e go?" one goon asked once they stopped shooting. They had discovered they were shooting at an old car-door. How they didn't discover this before was a mystery, they could've sworn they were shooting the weird masked dude.

"Dunno." Another goon replied and looked around.

"He's over there." A third added and pointed with a black-gloved, armour-clad arm.

"Where? I can't see-" Dudley stopped, blinked, then turned around and faced the person to whom the pointing arm belonged.

"Right there." Harry said, a smirk on his face. He'd never thought they would fall for such a trick, it was priceless! Now he knew why they constantly used it in cartoons. The guys back in Konoha would never believe this.

The goons and Dudley were starting to get pissed off. They knew that Harry was messing around with them, and one of them decided to take the matter into his own hands. Thinking that the masked man's attention was on the others, he snuck up behind him and raised his gun to the back of the man's head. "Move 'n' yer dead, fucker!"

"Then shoot."

The thug blinked. That was the first time he'd gotten _that_ response. "A'righ'." He grinned and pulled the trigger. At this point in time several things happened. One was that the wolf-masked ANBU turned into smoke, the second was that said smoke spread all around them, and the third was the sound of terrifying screams of pain coming from within the smoke. Faint shadows and outlines could be seen by the goon and Dudley, until there was total silence. The smoke started thinning out and disappearing, and when it did, the two could see what had happened to the rest of the men. The same men that were currently either not conscious or in various amounts of pain, some clutching a seriously broken limb, and a couple even had had their arms amputated, the limbs lying nearby. Dudley and the last thug gulped and shared a frightened look.

Suddenly arms settled on their shoulders, and a third head appeared between theirs. "Quite a sight, isn't it?" Harry asked and patted their shoulders in a friendly manner. The thug screamed and ran off down the street, which left only Dudley and Harry. "You simply can't get good minions these days. They don't make them like they used to, huh?" Harry commented.

Dudley growled and pushed the ANBU away. "You bastard! This is the moment which you die!"

"I swear I've heard that one before." Harry replied.

"Don't mock me, freak!" Dudley turned as fast as his hastily-bandaged leg would allow him, and pointed his shotgun right between Harry's eyes. "Not even you with you freakish powers, can avoid this at such a short distance!"

Harry wasn't worried at all, instead he took one step closer allowing the barrel of the shotgun to connect with his wolf-shaped mask. "What you did to your wife was despicable, Dudley." His hand rose slowly and his fingers wrapped around the barrel. "But what you did to your daughter – a child! – is unforgivable."

"What's it to you how I treat my daughter!"

"It is my concern when said child has magical abilities." Harry smirked behind his mask. He loved shocking people, and right now Dudley could easily have won the first prize in the Most Shocked Father of the Year competition. He clearly hadn't known about the girl's magical abilities, and neither had Harry. It had been a lucky shot when Fred had discovered the girl's abilities to use magic. However, this also made the situation all the more disgusting, for now Dudley had no reason (not that there really was a reason in the first place) to have been such a bastard to his wife and daughter.

Using Dudley's moments of shock against him, Harry quickly stuck a rolled up explosive tag down the barrel of the shotgun, then retreated to a safe distance. Just as Dudley opened his mouth – no doubt with another curse on the tip of his tongue – the explosive tag, and thusly the shotgun, went _kaboom_. The force of the explosion was strong enough to knock the already-unsteady Dudley to the ground, and the man's head connected hard with the asphalt.

Seeing that Dudley and his goons were going to be out of it for quite a while, Harry decided to just leave them there and headed back towards the containers, sending a quick Morse message to several people. He would've loved to really do his worst with Dudley, but muggles were good at investigating crime scenes, and there were also too many witnesses about as well. But the green-eyed ANBU swore that he would be back, and when that time came, Dudley was going to wish he had never been born.

Bonnie and the girl were still in the container – Harry really needed to ask the girl's name, no one had ever mentioned it! – and they looked relieved to see him unharmed. He helped them out, then picked up the girl and placed her on his hip, then he led the way to the closest and darkest alley that he could find.

"What are we doing here?" the girl rasped weakly, her head resting on Harry's shoulder, her thin arms wrapped around him.

"We're going to a couple of friends of mine," Harry replied. "However, the mode of transportation is slightly out of the ordinary. Now, I need you both to grab a hold of me, and then hang on and don't let go no matter what happens. Got it?"

Bonnie nodded and grabbed the offered hand, whilst the girl tightened her own grip both with arms and legs. "We're ready." She said quietly.

"Hang on." The green-eyed man closed his eyes for a second, then suddenly he did an unexpected twist on the tip of his toes and they disappeared from Privet Drive with a _pop_.

-x-x-x-x-

Once they reappeared Bonnie fell to her knees, shaking and shivering, whilst the young girl point blank refused to let go of the ANBU Squad Commander, her head buried in his armour.

"Oi, come now, it wasn't that bad." Harry muttered as he stared from one female to another, then he sighed. "Alright, alright, I should have warned you perhaps. However, we aren't completely out of the woods yet, so put yourself together until we get to safety."

The girl nodded and slowly raised her head. "Wh-where are we?" she asked in her raspy voice.

"Best for you not to know." The green-eyed man replied, then he held up a piece of parchment to the girl. "Can you read this for me?"

"The… the Headquarters of… of the Order of the Phon… Phinex…"

"Phoenix."

"The Headquarters of the Order of the Pho… Phoenix may be f… found at number t-twel-lve, Grim-mauld Place, London. Is that it, Uncle Harry?" the girl asked.

Harry nodded. "Yepp! You're good at reading, considering just how little schooling you've had."

"I… I practiced on my own, and mom helped me occasionally when dad wasn't about."

"Indeed. Now for you, Mrs Dursley, the same thing. Read this note to me." He handed the note to the woman who read it and handed it back, a rather confused expression on her face. "Excellent. Now, if you both could look at the space over there, the one between number 11 and number 13?"

They did as he said, and gasped as number 12 suddenly materialized out of nowhere. Harry led them up to the house and knocked on the door three times. It didn't take long before it was opened by none other than Minerva McGonagall.

"You do realise that you have caused quite the stir with the Ministry?" was the first thing that the Headmistress of Hogwarts said upon realising just who was standing in front of her. "They've been annoying me with useless questions all day long, and especially that friend of yours, Kimimaro. Poor boy has hardly gotten a minute of peace!"

Harry chuckled. "We can talk about that later, Minerva. For now I want to introduce you to my niece and her mother, the beautiful Mrs Bonnie Dursley, and the lovely Ms… er… never quite caught your name, girl. You wouldn't mind providing it for us, would you?"

"Lily." The girl said shyly. "My name's Lily."

"And the lovely Ms Lily Dursley." Harry finished.

McGonagall greeted the two new arrivals, but blinked when she shook hands with Lily. "You do realise that you have magic in you, dear child?" she asked the girl and the mother.

"M-magic?" Bonnie muttered.

"Like Uncle Harry?" Lily rasped.

"Do you mind if we continue this inside?" the green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander suggested amiably, though there was a note of steel in his voice.

McGonagall nodded. "Of course, come in. The meeting won't be for another couple of hours, so you can go relax. I'll take care of Mrs Dursley and Ms Dursley."

Harry smiled gratefully. "Thank you, I'll take you up on that offer." He was going to need all the sleep he could get. The day had been rather weird, and the meeting with the Order undoubtedly would be taxing as well – not only that, but he was heading back to the Shinobi Continent as soon as the meeting was over, and there would be very little sleep on the way. After handing Lily over to her mother and bidding all three ladies a good afternoon, Harry searched for the room McGonagall had directed him to, entered and laid down on the bed. It didn't take long before he had calmed himself sufficiently to fall asleep, trusting in his internal clock to wake him up in time for the meeting.

He couldn't wait to get back to the shinobi world.

-x-x-x-x-

There. Please tell me what you think.

A couple of you didn't like the way Dudley turned out. I know that it didn't necessarily have to go that way, but the dude hasn't done a single day's work in his entire life! He's been spoiled rotten from day one, and has always depended on others. This is as likely a situation for him to be in as any other, and that's the last I'll say on the matter.

The Cursed Seal will come in as soon as Harry returns to the Shinobi Continent. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it at all, it's just been on the backburner for most of the time. It will come, young grasshoppers, have no fear!

You people are demanding! First you want Harry to hurry up and get to the wizarding world, and now you want him back in the shinobi world as fast as possible. It's amusing to see just how fast opinions and wishes change. Either way, Harry will return to the Shinobi Continent perhaps in the next chapter, but most likely in the chapter after that. Be patient.

Thanks to:

Honebar, Quicksilver4, Shinobi's Fire, soccergirl13, Knives, The Insane Imortal Dragon, Moon-Freak00, Adnexus, Morrolan, firmin, NamelessHeretic, FireAngel8723, Krows Scared, kobisaki, BasicallyAnIdiot, dark672, Ol' Ollie, Z-AKA Andrea-, John Rost, Infinite Freedom, HolyKnight5, Hisshou, TanyaPotter, Exiled Rain, RBMIfan, Yaoi Otaku, darksentinant, Fattyaddy-99, silvergrac3, Julian Snape, AceZ-Shadow, Night-Rose14, Sk8er7, I-Y-T-Y, 2stupid, kirallie, LuciferIsDevine, aran, cheerful-pinkstar, Midnight Sorrows, Bobboky, Altariel Eldalote, candidus-lupus-full Moon, zi ma gesto, Anave Lipad, hittocerebattosai, Esther KIm/ember, TheWiseSirIvanTheShadowLord,


	23. Chapter 23

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Beware of horrible murdering of the Japanese language, and beware of pissed-off owls and werewolves.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Harry's internal clock woke him about half an hour before the Order meeting was to take place, and he delighted in simply laying there on the bed. It was a simple pleasure which was often denied to a shinobi seeing as one never knew when an enemy might pop up; but here in the wizarding world the only one who could be counted as a serious threat was Voldemort, and he wasn't about to attack any time soon – hopefully – so Harry spent almost the entire thirty minutes just relaxing and stretching out each and every limb, a delightful feeling of boneless-ness passing over him and relaxing him even more.

'_I wouldn't mind doing this for the rest of my days.' _The green-eyed ANBU thought to himself with a happy sigh. _'It's decided then. As soon as Orochimaru and Voldemort are out of the way, I'm pulling a Robinson Crusoe and moving to some deserted island where I intend to spend each and every day just like this.'_

When he finally did get out of bed about ten minutes before the start of the meeting, he did one last stretch and then looked around the room. He hadn't done so when he came here earlier in the day being too focused on getting to bed, but now that he did, he instantly recognised it at once as the room which Sirius had used whilst being alive. The room hadn't changed much except for having newer-looking furniture and not being buried in dust.

Even in the dark of the night a patch of white in the corner of his eye caught Harry's attention, and he turned towards it. Getting closer to the shelf where it was placed, and lifting his wolf-shaped mask to rest on his forehead, Harry peered at the white thing, and blinked in surprise. It was a very, very old owl, but it wasn't just any owl, it was Hedwig!

"-They must've stuffed you once you died. Why didn't they tell me that you flew the coop?-" Harry muttered, slipping back into Japanese without noticing. To someone he might've sounded like he could care less about the death of the faithful avian, but he knew that if he let go of his control then he would start bawling his eyes out, and he simply didn't have the time to do that, as heartless as it sounded. Besides, he had been anticipating it. I mean, come on! The bird would have been almost four decades old by now if it had lived!

Harry poked the bird a few times. "-Feels awfully warm to be a dead and stuffed bird.-" This mumble was followed by another couple of pokes. "-And too soft as well. Hmm, well, must be magic or something.-"

At this point something happened. The owl's previously-closed eyes suddenly blinked a couple of times, then yellow eyes focused on the green-eyed human, and a staring contest followed. Then suddenly Hedwig jumped into action surprisingly fast for such an ancient bird, and the powerful beak snapped shut on Harry's nose. Harry yelped in pain, and desperately tried to make Hedwig let go, but the owl didn't seem to want to and she had one hell of a powerful beak. Not only that, but she started flapping her wings and clawing Harry wherever she could reach, all the while hooting angrily. To tell the truth, it was quite the comical sight. A feared ANBU Squad Commander taken down by an angry owl. You don't see that every day.

"-OW! What the hell! Hedwig! Let go! OI!-" Harry growled and carefully pushed at the feathery body. "-Yes, I'm glad that you aren't dead, but is that necessary! Let go!" he pushed again, but the owl ignored him completely. Finally getting tired of it, he used a quick Replacement technique, Harry switched places with a chair and started rubbing at his wounded nose. He now had a scar running across the ridge of his nose, making him look rather like Umino Iruka.

'_Damnit! Why the hell did she attack me?_' An angry hoot brought him out of his grumbling, and he turned towards the angry owl on the floor. Another staring contest ensued, until Harry finally sighed and sat down on the bed. "I left without taking you with me, without even telling you about my departure, but it happened so fast. I hardly understood what happened at that time. You have every right to be angry with me, Hedwig," he muttered to the owl. "But perhaps it was for the best. You didn't have to see what your good-for-nothing master has done over the years.

Hedwig flapped her wings a couple of times, then decided not to fly and instead waddled her way across the floor. She stopped right between Harry's parted feet, and looked up at the human. She hooted.

"Heh, I never thought an owl could make me feel like I'm a child all over again." Harry smiled sadly, and quickly brushed at a suspicious wetness around his eyes. He didn't cry, he couldn't cry, especially not over something like this. Shinobi rule # 25 clearly stated that a ninja couldn't show any emotions, besides he was an ANBU Squad Commander, and those did. Not. CRY!

He sighed and reached his arms down. Hedwig jumped onto his arm, and he petted her as he brought her up to the same height as his face. "… I've missed you, old friend. I've missed you all." He whispered, a small but true smile playing about his lips. Hedwig hooted just as quietly, and rubbed her head against his cheek.

-x-x-x-x-

Harry watched from the landing as the various Order members arrived. Hedwig was still with him, now sitting on his shoulder, and his mask was covering his face. It still wasn't the time for the Order to know that Harry was in the wizarding world. No, for now he would play the faceless Konoha ANBU that came to negotiate a possible alliance between the Order of the Phoenix and Konohagakure.

It didn't take long until everyone had arrived, and McGonagall was the last person to enter the room where the meeting was to be held. Just before she did so, she looked up at Harry and smiled. "Give me five minutes. I need to announce your presence, and also for people to calm themselves."

"As you wish." Harry replied, and nodded. The old Headmistress entered the room, and closed the door after herself. At this point Harry started to slowly count to himself, and once the time was right he jumped over the railing. He landed easily on his feet and without a sound, and took a deep breath in preparation before he knocked on the door of the room.

McGonagall opened the door. "Ah! And here is just the person I was telling you about," she said over her shoulder to the rest of the room, before turning back to the ANBU and opening the door enough for him to slip through. "Come in and let me introduce you to everyone, Mr. Ookami."

"That will be not needed, McGonagall-san." Harry told her, his accent thick. "I have not want or need to know who is everyone."

"As you wish." The Headmistress nodded, then suddenly noticed the white owl perched on the man's shoulder. "Hedwig?" she seemed surprised.

"Hai. This mimìzuku_ (owl)_ was found in sleeping room when I stood up. You seem surprised, McGonagall-san."

She blinked. "I am. Hedwig has refused to get close to anyone save Remus ever since her owner, Harry Potter, went off to the Shinobi Continent." She said and pointed towards the rather shocked werewolf in question.

Harry looked over at the older man. Remus had changed over the past years, and not for the better. His hair was completely silver by now, he had numerous new scars all over, his face was full of new wrinkles, and he seemed dangerously thin – though that last one could be because he was wearing very baggy clothes. Yet, despite all these signs of ailing, the werewolf seemed stronger and fiercer than ever. As if he had gotten closer to his wolf-side, and had accepted it, almost merged with it. The amber eyes were studying Harry with the same intensity Harry's own were studying the other man.

Remus was the first to speak. "Hedwig usually attacks anyone who even dares to come close. You are lucky, Mr. Ookami," he said rather slowly, his eyes narrowing slightly for some reason.

"Só rashiì nè _(it would seem so)_," Harry replied. He shrugged his shoulder slightly, and Hedwig took to the air. She flew once around the room, then settled on Remus' waiting arm. "She wonderful bird is." Harry added as he watched the other man. Remus was suspecting something, probably due to his enhanced senses, but there was nothing Harry could do about it. The show must go on, and all that.

"Right, now that everyone is here, how about we start this meeting, Minerva?" a grey-haired Arthur Weasley suggested. "You said Mr. Ookami here is willing to join forces with us, is that right?"

McGonagall shook her head. "Not quite, Arthur. He's here only to negotiate a _possible_ alliance, there is no guarantee of it ever happening."

"What makes you hesitate?" Remus asked the ANBU directly, and somewhat coldly.

Harry didn't even bat an eyelash as he replied. "Peace treaty between Shinobi World and Wizard World. It say we not directly elope with each other-"

Several people had started chuckling, and it was a snickering Fred that tapped the ANBU on the shoulder. "Mr Ookami," he started, then broke down into chuckles again.

The green-eyed man continued with his acting. "What is it? Did I anything wrong say?"

"You did." George snickered. "It's not 'elope'."

"No?"

"No, the correct phrase is 'interact with each other'." Fred supplied.

"Oh. What then is 'elope'?"

Molly Weasley replied this time. "It is when a woman and a man run off to get married without permission from their parents, dear."

Harry nodded as if suddenly understanding. "Ah, that would give more trouble between Shinobi World and Wizard World if happen. No kízòku _(lord)_ would be happy his daughter run off with wizard. Troublesome."

The people around the room stopped laughing, twitched and didn't really know what to think. It seemed to them that the ANBU jumped to the worst scenario possible. And would it really be that bad if a princess fell in love with a wizard?

Remus was the only one who didn't seem to be affected by anything going on. "Can we please get on with this meeting?" the werewolf demanded, his eyes never leaving the ANBU Squad Commander. "As you were saying…?"

"Hai. Peace treaty say we not directly interact unless for trade. If Konohagakure no Sato join with Order of Bird, we break the treaty. War could happen, and it not worth it."

"What if we could guarantee that no war would break out if you join us?" Kingsley Shacklebolt asked.

"You not guarantee that just like we not guarantee all Hidden Villages join Order of Bird." Harry replied. "Konoha join your war, other side – the Death Eaters – ask other village to join. It create war in Shinobi Sekài. Iíe, watákushi ga ittá yo nì: sore wà kachì de náì _(no, as I said: it's not worth it)_."

"Er, excuse us, we didn't quite catch that last part. Could you repeat that in English please?" a bewildered Kingsley said, and several others nodded as well.

"Ah, I sorry am, I forget. No, as I say: it not worth it."

"So all we have really concluded here is that there will be no alliance at all." Remus snorted. "Why are you here, Mr _Ookami_, if there is no alliance to be had?"

"Because hope is lost not," the green-eyed man replied, refusing to let the werewolf get to him. He was now sure that Remus knew something, but he couldn't confront the werewolf until later. "Official alliance bring war to us, but if shinobi come here on mission, make friend here, and want to help friend when in need, then of war risk is not too great."

"But wouldn't those ninja be labelled as missing-nin?" George asked as he scratched his head.

"Not if they leave village in free time off work. Then they days seven have before need to be back." Harry smirked at the comprehending looks that dawned on the faces of the Order members. Honestly, a ninja would've been able to reach this conclusion long before now, but wizards – it seemed – needed to have everything shoved down their throat with a silver teaspoon! It was down right annoying.

"They will never get here, fight, and get back in that time." Remus pointed out. "Not unless they could apparate or had portkeys."

"Exactly!"

"So now you want us to trust you with portkeys?"

"Otherwise no alliance." Harry shrugged his shoulders as if he could care less, and – to tell the truth – he could care less. He really didn't want to tie his friends up with the wizards, who knew what stupid thing the wizards would come up with? To him this alliance was worthless, but the Hokage wanted the option explored, and that's what Harry would do even if the outcome wasn't to his own wishes.

Remus persisted in his negative attitude. "How would… _your kind_ know when we were in trouble?"

"We can just give them modified communication medallions, or something!" Fred and George spoke up, and immediately found themselves the recipients of the werewolf's glare.

McGonagall, seeing that Remus really wasn't in the greatest of moods – and having and inkling as to why – quickly stepped up and put a hand on the werewolf's shoulder. "How about we let this rest for a while? Mr. Ookami is scheduled to stay here for at least another week before he has to head back, so we will have plenty of opportunity to think about it and talk. Let's move on to other things. Dedalus, didn't you say you discovered something about those black-market dealings with the Shinobi Continent?"

The elderly man nodded excitably, nearly sending his purple top hat flying. "Indeed," he said. "Apparently the boss was caught and is being held under custody by one of the Hidden Villages, I'm not quite sure which one. Maybe Mr Ookami knows somethi-… where did he go?"

Everyone looked around the room, but the elusive shinobi was nowhere to be found. The meeting eventually continued, going on far into the night, and other problems soon pushed every thought of the ANBU on the backburner.

McGonagall was one of the few who noticed that Remus Lupin was gone as well, and she couldn't help but worry. _'As much as I hate to say this, Harry, but you brought this confrontation upon yourself. You parted a werewolf from his mate for too long, and now you will have to pay the consequences.'_

-x-x-x-x-

"I smelled it the second I stepped into this house, but I couldn't be sure if it wasn't something else bearing your scent. However, when you entered the room for the meeting, and with Hedwig on your shoulder, all my doubts were blown to the winds." A voice growled out through the silent corridor, an animalistic quality to it. "But no matter how much you change in manner and looks, no matter how much your voice changes, and no matter what language you speak, your scent never changes. We need to have a talk, Harry Potter!"

"Not here in the middle of the corridor, too many people could listen in on the conversation. Follow me, please." Harry had been aware of the werewolf long before Remus caught up with him, but he paid it no heed at the moment and continued to make his way towards a room which was removed as far away form the living room as possible. Once he opened the door, he found himself face to face with Lily and Bonnie Dursley, and he removed his ANBU mask and smiled at them.

"Good evening." Bonnie Dursley greeted, a small smile on her face and a folded book in her lap.

"Hello, Uncle Harry," Lily smiled up at the green-eyed man. She was sitting on the floor in front of the fire place, a slew of papers and crayons strewn all around her.

Harry squatted down beside her and ruffled her hair. "You're very good at drawing, Lily. You should go professional when you're older."

"You really think so?" the girl asked.

"Of course." He picked up one of the drawings and studied it. "Definitely professional. What do you think, Remus?"

The werewolf clearly couldn't bring himself to act mean to a child, and accepted the drawing Harry held up. He studied it for a moment, then nodded. "It is very good," he agreed.

Lily beamed. "This is when Uncle Harry came to save us earlier today. See, this is me and mum, we're hiding in the container. This dot here is daddy, and this is Uncle Harry." She had stood up and was now pointing to each stick figure – or, in Dudley's case, large dot of colours – as she explained.

"Lily," Harry called her attention again, and she turned to him. "Would you mind doing me a favour?"

"Favour?"

"Yes, I wondered if you would mind taking care of Hedwig for me?"

"Hedwig?" the girl wondered.

The green-eyed man held out an arm, and the ancient owl landed on it and hooted. "This is Hedwig, and she's very dear to me. She is very old, and she can't catch mice on her own anymore, but she's a wonderful creature. Would you mind taking care of her?"

"You mean it?" Lily was all excitement. "You really mean I get to take care of her!"

"If you wish to, yes." Harry nodded and smiled.

The girl jumped up and down in eagerness. "YAY! Of course I do! Oh, thank you, Uncle Harry!" she threw her arms around the kneeling ANBU's neck, and hugged him to the best of her abilities. Then she focused on the owl and started petting her. "What do I need to do?" she asked, suddenly all seriousness.

Remus spoke up this time. "There's a box of mice especially kept for Hedwig down in the kitchen. It's in the freezer, so you will have to wait before giving one to her. You can also get a bowl or saucer in one of the cupboards for her water. Think you can manage that?"

"Of course!"

Bonnie smiled and stood up. "Where is the kitchen?" she asked as she put away the book she'd been reading.

"Hedwig will show you the way." Harry replied as he stood up. "Take your time, and get something to eat or drink for yourself. There's no hurry here."

Lily was already running towards the exit. "Come on! Hedwig must be very hungry. Mum, hurry!" she was jumping up and down and waving her arms like a windmill, looking quite a lot like a jumping jack. Hedwig hooted and took off after the suddenly hyper girl, then hovered in the air as they waited for Mrs Dursley to join them.

"I'm coming, honey." Bonnie hurried after her daughter and the owl, and closed the door after herself when they exited the room.

This left only Harry and Remus in the room, and the werewolf was quick to throw up a couple of Silencing charms and Privacy wards. Then he gently put his wand on a shelf in a clear message that there would be no magic used in the confrontation to come, before he turned towards the green-eyed man and waited and observed.

Harry had started removing his own weapons – it took more time since he had a lot more of them – and he placed them all in a corner. The last things he removed were the katana and his wand. As soon as he had dropped the two objects on the rest of the pile, there was a feral growl from the other man, and Harry found himself roughly pushed up against the wall, face to face with a seriously pissed-off werewolf. And since werewolves had enhanced senses and strength, it wasn't pleasant to be pushed up against the wall by one.

"I've been waiting to do this for almost twenty years!" Remus growled, his eyes glowing and his face gaining more wolf-like qualities. "Twenty years without my wife! Do you know what that does to a werewolf!" he punched the younger man with all his strength, sending him flying across the room. "Whilst she was running an order outpost I could have still visited her, or even lived with her! But no! You had to pick my wife of all people to go undercover! In Orochimaru's organisation of all places!"

As he spoke Remus delivered punches and scratches, practically wiping the floor with Harry who refused to fight back. Harry groaned as Remus' sharp claws neatly cut through the ANBU armour on his chest, and scratched the skin underneath. The green-eyed man coughed and gasped for breath as he stumbled to his feet, yet despite it all he refused to lift a hand against the werewolf. It continued like this for another short while, until Harry was again pushed up against the wall, a clawed hand wrapped around his throat.

"Why won't you fight back!" Remus demanded almost desperately, his eyes suspiciously bright and watery. "Damn it! Why don't you fight!" he yelled again and punched the green-eyed man again.

"Because I deserve it." Harry replied quietly, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his lips. "I deserve everything you have to give me, and more. It's my fault, everything is my fault. All the pain, all the problems, all the tears, it's all my fault." He chuckled humourlessly. "It probably would've been better if I'd never been born-" he was cut off when the older man punched him again, sending him to the floor.

"Don't say that! Don't you dare say that! You were James and Lily's pride and joy! They _died_ for you! All these years of work and pain and sorrows! Don't you dare throw that away, Harry Potter!" Remus shouted, tears running down his face. "I'm just a foolish werewolf who can't control his emotions! I don't know! Damn it all to hell, I miss Tonks! I miss her so much!" he cried as he fell to his knees, his face hidden in his hands, sobs shaking his entire frame.

"Remus…" Harry muttered, then slowly crawled over to the older man. He hesitantly reached out a hand, but brought it back before it could settle on the werewolf's shoulder. "I'm so sorry." It was all he could offer right now.

"I miss my wife." Remus whispered brokenly.

"I promise you, Tonks will return to you in two months time at the most."

"You'll forgive me for not trusting your word, Mr Ookami," the werewolf replied, his voice firm despite his tears.

"I would've been worried if it had been otherwise," Harry replied with a tired sigh. "I am sorry, Remus." He said again.

The older man nodded. "I know. I'm sorry as well, but you damn well deserved it."

"Aa, I know."

"It's going to take a long time for you to regain my trust, if it ever happens." Remus said. "It will take patience on both our parts, and it will be a road full of ups and downs – and with more downs than ups, I fear – and our friendship will never again be like it was before all this happened. I'm not about to throw away my last link to the Marauders, even if my wolf-side wants to rip your throat out and feast on your flesh. The point I'm trying to make, is that I'm willing to try to let you back into my life."

This time Harry was the one who nodded, and sighed again. "I can work with that." He said, a small twitch of a smile at the corner of his cut lips. "I can definitely work with that."

-x-x-x-x-

The Chunnin Exam would last almost a month and a half at the most, but only if more gennin than anticipated passed the first two parts of the exam. Ibiki was handling the written exam this year – the man had nearly begged on his knees for the chance to torture the poor gennin – and Mitarashi Anko was handling the second part of the exam which would take part in Training Grounds 44, a.k.a. the Forest of Death. Those two insured that there wouldn't be too many teams passing, but one could never be sure so the Sandaime Hokage had ordered Harry to not return to Konoha until a month and a half had passed.

Harry spent his remaining week in the Wizarding World rather lazily, mostly spending time with his niece or with the other Order members that showed up at Number 12. He even took a few trips to Hogwarts to talk to Kimimaro, and to make sure that the Ministry of Magic didn't get a heart attack in their panic from his disappearance. Whilst there he went to Hogsmeade and picked up some of the sweets which were unique for the Wizarding World. He knew several shinobi who would love to try some of those, and Maito Gai had been hooked on butterbeer ever since he accidentally tried a sip of some Hermione had once brought with her. All in all, nothing really happened during that week, and soon it was time for Harry to leave.

"Are you sure you hate to leave, Uncle Harry?" Lily asked, her big eyes staring up at the older man.

Harry nodded. "Unfortunately I do."

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Perhaps," he replied and did one last check of everything. Then he turned to the girl, and kneeled down so that they were more or less face to face. "I have a job for you, Lily."

"If you're talking about Hedwig, then you won't have to ask. I'll take care of her." The girl said.

"That's good to know, but that wasn't what I was talking about. This will be a very dangerous job, and it will put both you and your mother in danger, so think carefully before you reply, alright?" he watched her until she nodded, then he leaned in closer. "I think there might be a spy in the Order, and I want you to find out who that is."

"Me?" Lily's eyes were wide.

The green-eyed man nodded again. "No one would ever suspect you and your mother – if you wish to bring her into this. Take this medallion, and ask one of the Weasley twins to teach you how to use it. If anyone asks, simply say that I wanted to have a means to talk to my niece whilst I was away."

"Eh?" the girl clearly didn't understand much of what was said.

"You will understand as soon as you ask either Fred or George to help you." Harry smiled at her. "Another thing is this: soon enough a young man named Kimimaro will arrive."

"Kim-i-mi-mar-o?"

"No, no, Ki_mi_maro, but I suppose you can call him Kimmy-chan." He watched as she giggled. "You can trust him with your life, just tell him everything if you need to."

Lily nodded resolutely and accepted the communication medallion. "Alright."

"And remember, this is our little secret. Right?" Harry winked at her and ruffled her hair when she returned it to the best of her abilities. "That's a good girl. Well, I must be off." He patted her shoulder once, then walked out of the room without a backwards glance.

Down in the entrance hall Harry found Remus waiting for him. Their relationship hadn't progressed much, and they had only interacted when forced to. It was all very understandable, of course, and no one had tried to force them to interact more, though they had received a few weird looks from some of those people who didn't know what was going on. So it was understandable that it surprised Harry when he saw the werewolf waiting for him.

"Lupin-san." The green-eyed man nodded politely, and would have passed the older man if Remus hadn't grabbed a hold of his arm. "Is anything I help you with can?"

Remus sighed. "Mr. Ookami, I…" he was unable to continue.

But Harry understood what the man wanted to say. "Your wife return will to you before two month is gone."

"Thank you." Came the quiet reply.

Harry nodded and as soon as Remus' hand fell from his arm he started walking again, and this time he exited Number 12 without a backwards glance. He looked up at the starry sky and sighed. He wouldn't have to travel at top speed seeing as he still roughly had another week to get to the Shinobi Continent, but quite frankly he couldn't wait to get back to everyone. It would be good to see them all again – provided that they survived Orochimaru's attack, but he didn't allow himself to dwell on that thought for too long. Besides, the Sandaime Hokage wouldn't allow too many casualties, the old man's determination to learn and use the Sealing technique used to capture the Kyuubi no Kitsune proved that.

'_In little more than a week's time I will finally know what happened whilst I was gone.'_ The thought ran across his mind, and he smiled underneath his mask. _'Well, I suppose it's time to get a move on. Sayonara for now, Wizarding World.'_

Remus had been observing the younger man the while he had stood there, staring at the sky. He was quite surprised when Harry suddenly disappeared from sight and sound, nothing giving away if he apparated away or if he used some shinobi equivalent to apparating. It was disconcerting when he realised that it was simply speed, and the werewolf couldn't help but shudder.

'_Harry could have wiped the floor with me during our fight. I wouldn't stand a chance against him if he ever got serious.'_ He suddenly understood. Then a small smile spread across his face. _'James, Lily, Sirius, I think we have a good shot at winning this war.'_

"He's gone, isn't he?" a shy voice spoke up and a small hand tangled with the man's shirt.

Remus looked down and smiled when he saw young Lily Dursley. He put a comforting hand around her shoulders, and squeezed gently. "He's gone." He confirmed. "But he'll be back."

Lily nodded. "I know. He promised."

"Yes… he did…"

-x-x-x-x-

There, please tell me what you think.

Next chapter we're finally going back to the Shinobi Continent, and everything will be explained then.

Hmm. I'm not so sure I got the fight between Remus and Harry like I wanted it, and it might seem like Remus has a serious bout of mood-swing for a moment there. But keep in mind that this is a very emotional moment for the both of them. Either way, please tell me what you think about it. Was it as crappy as I think it was?

No, Lily Dursley's name wasn'y a coincidence. Lets say that Dudley – in one of his frequent moments of stupidity – agreed to the name, then later remembered that Harry's mother was named the same. This gave him even more incentive to be cruel with the child.

I just got a flame for the last chapter, claiming that the chapter wasn't believable at all. According to the reviewer Harry should've killed off Dudley and his goons, and Bonnie Dursley should've gone to the police. There are two reasons why Harry didn't do this. One is that he doesn't want to end up like Voldemort by killing his own family, and another is that even if Bonnie Dursley could've gone to the police ages ago, some women really are so frightened of their husbands that they simply don't dare, no matter what. I know this is very cruel, but that's the way it is, and I will not change it.

On a happier note, Gaara will show up in the story soon (within the next two chapters I believe)!

Thanks to:

NamelessHeretic, TanyaPotter, Night Wanderer, Moon-Freak00, Belladonna16, dark672, kaeden, Curlz-Shadow Kitsune, RBMIfan, The Insane Imortal Dragon, Exiled Rain, firmin, disama, FireAngel8723, BasicallyAnIdiot, EKI-ember, nantukoprime, ol' Ollie, kirallie, darksentinant, I-Y-T-Y, Shinobi's Fire, MiruSedna, Wolven Spirits, silvergrac3, Anave Lipad, Ash of Mine, cheerful-pinkstar, Honebar, kobisaki, GreyGryph, Suma goddess of darkness, Adnexus, Krows Scared, Sk8er7, 2stupid, hittocerebattosai, candidus-lupus-full Moon, LuciferIsDevine, PhiloWorm, Tombadgerlock, Quicksilver4, Meemei, Raziel Tepes, Z-AKA Andrea-, ZwngDragon, The Chair Leg of Truth, Princess Hikari of Chrono, Gogolu, tulip and Mugen.


	24. Chapter 24

**Over the Hills and Far Away **

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** From now on we go back to these two "-…-" indicating that English is being spoken, whilst a simple "…" indicates Japanese. Savvy?

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Seeing as he had more or less a week before he was supposed to return to the Shinobi Continent, Harry decided to use said week in a beneficial manner. So he did what he had always wanted to do, and went sightseeing. Before leaving number 12 Grimmauld Place, he had requested for a portkey back to the temple where the portal was located, so he had that covered and didn't have to worry about the time it would usually take him to get there. Either way he visited Paris first, and spent two days marvelling at the old cathedrals, the Louvre and Versailles. Afterwards he went to Venice and spent another day simply walking around the city, and the charming canals and bridges. Counting that it had taken him a day to get from England to France, and two from France to Italy, he had by now spent six days and decided to head back to Japan and the portal. He could spend his last day with the monks, or something.

With a simple phrase the portkey activated, and after a spinning ride it deposited him in a part of the temple which had been specifically closed off for this reason. Harry thanked his lucky stars for his shinobi training, otherwise he would've landed in an undignified and embarrassing heap. Anyways, he shook himself, and then followed the closest monk to the back of the temple, and a spare room where he would spend his remaining time.

"The portal will be opened tomorrow at dawn." The monk said, then promptly left the ANBU Squad Commander alone.

Harry sighed, then sat down with his back against the wall, and allowed himself to linger in a place halfway between sleep and wakefulness. It was a shinobi trick, and it provided all necessary rest, yet the shinobi stayed alert of their surroundings and were ready in the case of an attack. Besides, the time practically flew in this state, and before he knew it Harry was being prodded into full wakefulness by a young monk, who then led him out of the room, across the temple grounds, and finally to where the portal was.

It was a crisp and rather chilly morning, and the sun hadn't even peeked above the horizon, yet the monks were in full swing with their daily lives. Five monks stood waiting in the garden, and four of these were preparing themselves to open the portal. The fifth acknowledged Harry and his companion with a nod, and they waited in silence for the portal to open.

"Thank you for everything." Harry said and bowed to the monks, before he jumped through the portal, ran across the stone bridge, and went through the second portal which closed behind him as soon as he was through. The hot, dry air of the Wind Country greeted him, along with miles upon miles with rolling hills of sand as far as the eye could see.

'_I see nothing much has changed here.'_ The green-eyed shinobi thought sarcastically whilst casting a nifty Cooling charm on himself. "Well, better get going," he muttered to himself, and set off through the desert. He didn't travel at top speed – he didn't want to tire too quickly, and it wasn't required at the moment – and instead kept a comfortable pace which he could hold for several days on end before he got tried.

Harry travelled throughout the day and then the night, relishing the insane cold that descended over the desert, and he dropped the Cooling charm. It was better to conserve his chakra resources for the day when he would _really_ need said charm.

Running across the desert on a clear night was really a special experience. The entire sky lay open and unhindered by trees and mountains. It was as if the sky was close enough to touch, close enough for someone to simply reach up, and simply pluck down the numberless stars. The moon was almost full, and together with the stars it provided enough light to travel by. It was a mysterious landscape, which gave birth to numerous stories and legends.

Harry only paid all of this a passing thought, though. His main goal at the moment was to reach the closest sandstone canyon, where he knew that the shinobi of Wind Country had a small outpost. It wasn't used except in war or on the occasional mission, and since the Suna shinobi allowed others to use them, the green-eyed man hoped to be able to rest there for a few hours. The Suna ninja made sure to maintain their outposts, and did a check at least every five years or so, but usually more often than that. They made sure that the well of water hadn't dried out or was contaminated, some ration bars were always preserved in a cupboard, and some weapons could be found. Harry knew all this because he had worked with those from Suna – luckily only as a Konoha ANBU and not as Orochimaru's grandson, so the Sand had nothing to suspect from him dropping by for a few hours.

He ran past one of the rare spots where desert plants – i.e. cacti – got enough water to grow, and as he passed there was a tiny hooting sound, and some elf owls flew up from their nests in a few holes that adorned the spiky things. Harry blinked as one of the elf owls suddenly flew after him, looking ready to dive-bomb the ANBU Squad Commander rather like a kamikaze pilot.

'_I have terrible luck with owls lately,'_ Harry thought to himself as he threw a shuriken, intending to scare the bird away. What he didn't expect to happen was for the sparrow-sized owl to ignore the shuriken, and continue its attack. With a grumble the green-eyed man drew three shuriken, and threw them at the bird. If he couldn't scare the damn thing away, then he would have to kill it. Besides, the owl would provide a tiny meal, but a meal nonetheless. He would cook it a soon as he got to the outpost.

His plans of making the owl his snack, were shot to hell when the owl – upon impact with one of the shuriken – _exploded_ with enough force to knock Harry off his feet. Automatically using the shockwave to roll into a crouch and then standing up, the green-eyed man searched the desert for any sign of his attacker.

'_Exploding birds? What the hell is going on here? Where is the attacker? Are they alone, or do they have a partner? Why me? Why now? I hate Murphy's Law!'_ these thoughts and more ran through his head, whilst he stood there. He looked around, left, right, behind and in front of himself. _'Are they coming from the left or the right? Hidden underground? Or…'_ green eyes slowly raised upwards towards the great black sky.

"Katsu!" a deep voice yelled and activated the trap.

'_Above!'_ Harry barely had the time to think this and get away as a medium-sized eagle-like bird came flying towards him at an incredible speed. As soon as it got close enough to where he had been standing only half-a-second before, it exploded just like the smaller bird had – except that the explosion was far more potent, and the explosion blew a thick cloud of sand and dust into the air. If Harry hadn't already been flat out on the ground, then the shockwave would've easily knocked the wind out of him.

"He avoided two of my **Torigata Nendo**, yeah!" (_Bird-shaped Clay_) the same deep voice said.

"As expected of an ANBU Squad Commander." A second voice added.

Harry whirled around to face the speakers, and then nearly cursed out loud. Two people stood a little ways away, both of them dressed in the infamous black cloaks adorned with red clouds outlined in white, and Harry knew at once who they were and also why they were after him.

'_Akatsuki.'_ Flashed across his brain, and the green-eyed man quickly drew some shuriken and kunai.

One of the two had blond hair, some of which covered the entire left side of the face, and some of which was gathered in a topknot. One blue eye regarded the ANBU Squad Commander seriously, and Harry found himself doubting that this person was male, despite the deep voice. The other person was hunched over, a black cloth covering his nose and lower face. His hair was black and stuck up in several spikes in the back. Other than that it was rather difficult to see because the Akatsuki cloak got in the way.

"Master Sasori, are you sure that this is the correct person, yeah?" the blond spoke up again.

The other nodded. "Aa, Kabuto said that he wore a wolf-shaped ANBU mask, and that he was heading back from the portal in Wind Country. This is the only person we have encountered out here in five days, he cannot be anyone else."

The ANBU in question hadn't let his eye stray from his enemies for one second. He now knew who the hunched-over person was, and he had a good idea about who the blond was as well. The dark-haired one was Akasuna no Sasori, Sasori of the Red Sand. One of the most dangerous members of the Akatsuki – not that they weren't all dangerous. He was a puppet master in every sense of the word, and Harry seriously had hoped never to meet up with the guy. Puppet masters were down right annoying, and simply kept refusing to die, always having another trick up their sleeve. The second person, the blond, was named Deidara, though Harry couldn't be sure. The guy had joined the Akatsuki after Orochimaru's betrayal, and there was very little information about him in the Shinobi Bingo Book.

'_One S-class opponent I could've handled – we'd be more or less evenly matched then – but two is going to be a bit trickier. Fuck! I'm going to kill Kabuto if I survive this; and if not, then I'm going to haunt the damn brat for the rest of his life, and make said life miserable for him! This is obviously his way of trying to get rid of me. The Akatsuki want the nine demons, and I'm the guardian of one, and the adoptive brother of another. Not to mention that I have connection with a third as well, though I don't think they know about that. It's a smart plan, Orochimaru would never suspect this being anything but an unfortunate accident. Either way, I'm royally screwed.' _Harry thought. _'I'm going to have to cheat.'_

"You don't suppose he'd be willing to simply give up the two demons he guards, yeah?" the blond wondered, almost mockingly.

"That is a stupid question, Deidara." Sasori replied, and confirmed Harry's suspicions about the blonde's identity.

Harry decided to take action, they couldn't stand and chat all night long. "I have no intention of giving up any information to you." He told them in a calm and emotionless voice.

Sasori nodded. "We thought so."

"I'll begin the fight, yeah!" Deidara exclaimed cockily. "**Kibaku Nendo: Torigata!**" (_Exploding Clay: Bird-shaped!_)

Deidara suddenly held up one hand, palm up. A rift in the palm opened up, and it started eating some sort of clay that the blond was feeding it. Not much later it suddenly spit out a bird, which grew and then took to the air. However, that wasn't all as Deidara kept feeding the mouth, and soon an entire flock of birds was hovering in the air.

Harry didn't have the time to stop and think, as the birds suddenly homed right in on his position and flew straight towards him at an incredible speed. The birds were faster than the previous two attacks he had lived through, and this time there was more than one of them, and Harry soon had his hands full avoiding the pests and trying not to get caught in the blast or the shockwave which followed. It was very difficult, and he had more than one very, _very_ close miss.

"**Doton: Doruki Gaeshi!**" (_Earth-wall Land Flip!_)

A wall of sand rose in front of him, and blocked four of the incoming birds. Although the technique would've been much more effective if it had been hard-packed earth and not sand, it did its job, and by the time the wall crumbled or the birds started flying around it, Harry was already gone.

"**Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" (_Shuriken Shadow-clone Technique!_) Harry muttered and directed it towards the two Akatsuki members, forcing them to jump out of the way each to his own direction. "**Óù!**" (_Pursue!_) at that simple command the numerous shuriken divided, and each half followed one of the two nukenin. Another quick Shadow Clone Technique later and the shuriken had multiplied once again, thusly keeping the two men busy for a moment.

But a moment was all it took, and Harry's well-placed "**Doroudomo Doten Kekkai!**" (_Earth-barrier Clay Prison!_) produced a dome of sand which swallowed the remaining kamikaze birds, and although the thing didn't hold out very long under the strain of explosions, it brought the number of the clay pests down to practically nothing.

"**Torigata Nendo!**" (_Bird-shaped Clay!_) Deidara created his birds again as soon as he got rid of the last shuriken.

Sasori had by now decided to join the battle as well. "**Hitogutsu!**" (_Human Puppet!_)

Several completely human-looking puppets showed up, all of them dressed as shinobi from various Hidden Villages, and attacked the ANBU Squad Commander.

Harry knew he had to keep moving, and he did his best to keep out of the way of the attacking forces. A great shockwave from somewhere to his side, knocked him off his feet and sent him rolling down a hill of sand.

'_Fuck!'_ Harry swore and rolled out of the way of another dive-bombing bird, then simply continued rolling knowing that the others were still following. Since he couldn't keep rolling forever, he did a lightning-quick _kiwarimi_ and replaced himself with one of the cacti he had passed. This gave him some time to analyse his situation, and it took him further away from his enemies. The few kamikaze birds that hadn't fallen for the replacement, were speeding towards him again, but he took care of them with a couple of well-placed shuriken, and this time not even the shockwave of the explosion affected him much.

He didn't get much time to do anything as something suddenly showed up behind him, and it would've grabbed him with three sets of bladed arms if he hadn't jumped out of the way. He didn't even bother to look back, instead made his own hand-seals whilst in mid-air, and focused at the new wave of attacking birds and puppets. "**Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!**" (_Fire Element: Phoenix Fire!_)

The technique was at its most powerful, and Harry kept on shooting/spitting fireballs from his mouth longer than one usually did. He aimed them all at the incoming threat, and although it didn't help much against the clay birds except creating some disorder in the ranks, it did do some good against the attacking puppets, some of which caught fire. However, it still wasn't enough, and he had to bring out his wand. He threw up a hasty Shield, and just in time as the both the birds and the puppets reached him.

The ensuing explosion could probably be seen and heard for miles around, and probably alerted some of the patrolling Sand shinobi.

"Your birds took out my puppets." Sasori commented, and he didn't sound very happy about it.

"Fine art is the beauty of that single, fleeting moment of explosion, yeah!" Deidara said, then his eyes narrowed. "He's not dead yet… yeah." He pointed.

And it was true. Harry was still alive, although he was rather shaken. Without the Shield he would've died in that explosion, instead it had knocked the air out of him rather harshly. Now he stood up and groaned. The shockwave of the explosion had rattled him to the bones, and had even caused his ANBU mask to crack down the middle. It was useless now, and he simply threw it away lest it get in his way.

"_Reducto_!" Harry shouted and did a sweeping move with the wand, before he apparated away. The sand before him more or less exploded, and a giant wave of it shot toward the two Akatsuki members. "_Incendio_! _Alvus Abigere_! _Reducto_!" he shouted from his new position behind the two nukenin, and the first spell caught the tip of Sasori's weird hairdo. The last spell was meant for the incoming kamikaze birds, and it gave him enough time to apparate away again.

"I heard he was fast, yeah, but I didn't know he was this fast, yeah!" Deidara growled as he tried to follow the constantly-apparating Harry.

"It's got to be some sort of technique, like the one Konohagakure's Yondaime Hokage used. We've got to stop him." Sasori muttered.

"Yeah!"

"**Doton Doryu Dango!**" (_Earth-seal Mud Cannonball!_) Harry sent several discos of hard-packed sand towards his enemies, some of them going for Sasori, but the man simply batted them away by something which was revealed to be a long, scorpion-like tail connected somewhere to the man's back.

"Damn it!" Harry muttered and disappeared again. He appeared a few sand dunes away, and took some time to gather his breath. The heavy warding that surrounded the entire Shinobi Continent, and which helped to keep it hidden from prying eyes, made it also very difficult for someone to apprate. And the high-level techniques he was using wasn't helping either, and his chakra/magic was slowly starting to dwindle. Not only that, but Deidara's exploding clay birds had given him several rather bad burn-wounds, and Sasori's puppets always had a nasty, lethal surprise up their sleeve, several of which he bore the testimony of. _'I am definitely going to kill Kabuto once this is over.'_

Counting himself enough rested for now, Harry jumped back into the battlefield again. It was unlikely that the two Akatsuki members would allow him to escape, no, they would follow him to the ends of the earth if they needed to. What had him especially suspicious was that they had allowed him that little breather, he knew that they knew where he had ended up, and yet they hadn't attacked.

'_They are planning something.'_ His mind supplied, and his hands started making hand-seals again. He was almost finished with the sequence of seals, when he was forced to break them off in order to defend himself. It was a good thing that he had played Quidditch, and that he had been a very good seeker, because a small movement out of the very corner of his eye was the only warning he had to duck, before something exploded right where his head had been. If he hadn't ducked, his head would've been blown clear off. However, he didn't have the time to wonder what the hell that had been, his instincts were screaming for him to get to his feet and get a hold of a weapon.

It was only luck that he managed to draw his katana in time to stop Sasori's own sword from cleaving his scull in two.

"You're stubborn. I can see why they made you an ANBU Squad Commander." Sasori said from underneath his mask. "Your wizard-skills are interesting. I think I want to make a puppet out of you."

Harry didn't bother replying, and instead finished the sequence of hand-seals – this time one-handed seeing as the other was quite busy trying to keep Sasori's katana from slicing him in half. "**Mikazuki no Mai!**" (_Dance of the Crescent Moon!_)

In a blur of movement another Harry suddenly appeared and attacked Sasori from the side, forcing the man to defend himself. This gave Harry the opening he needed, and he slid in low then brought his sword upwards. It pierced straight through the other man's head, and would've killed him if he had been anything but a puppet master.

Harry cursed when he felt no blood falling, and realised that he had entered a trap. He tried to do a quick retreat, but his position didn't allow it to be as quick as needed. The arms of the puppet shot out, grabbed a hold of him, and then he was held against the chest of the puppet in a vice-like grip. Almost all the air was squeezed out of him, and the more he struggled the more the puppet tightened its hold on him, and the less he could breathe.

"Master Sasori! You caught him, yeah!" Deidara's voice came from above, and Harry looked up. The two Akatsuki members were sitting on the back of a giant bird, some fifty feet in the air, and blending really well in with the sky by the help of a small genjutsu.

'_I am royally screwed.'_ Harry thought to himself, and quickly evaluated his situation.

"We want to know the location of the two demons under your care. One, Uzumaki Naruto, we already know is in Konoha, but none of our sources could figure out where the other was, yeah!" Deidara said as soon as Sasori had brought Harry up to their level by using his strings of chakra.

"Where is the Sanbi no Inu?" Sasori asked.

'_Three-tailed dog. They're searching for the Cerberus.'_ The green-eyed man thought to himself. Then he got an idea. It was a Gryffindor-ish idea to the extreme, and would probably not work, but it was the only chance he had at the moment as far as he could see, and he was willing to risk it.

Apparently he had taken a bit too long to answer, and Sasori drew his katana. He rested it against Harry's neck, the sharp side cutting through the long neck of the standard ANBU uniform, and drawing blood. "I suggest you answer before I really lose my temper."

Harry hissed. The new wound stung insanely, and he supposed that Sasori had the blade of the katana coated in some sort of poison. _'Wonderful. That's the last thing I needed!'_

"Answer us, yeah!" Deidara shouted and punched the captured man.

The green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander licked his lip, smearing some of the blood which had begun to flow from the wound, and then hung his head. "I… have it with me." He said finally.

"Have what with you?" Sasori asked.

"The Sealing scroll containing the Sanbi no Inu."

"Give it to us, yeah!"

"Can't, it's keyed to my chakra, and only I can open it and summon the demon."

Sasori frowned. "So how are we going to get past that?" he demanded, and pressed the katana even more against Harry's neck, sending a fresh trickle of blood running down the blade, and staining the black cloth of the ANBU uniform.

Harry squeezed his eyes shut, as if it was difficult for him to admit this. "I always carry a second Sealing scroll in case the demon breaks through the current one. The demon did that once before. However, it takes a few minutes before its oriented itself after being summoned, and that is enough time to seal it again."

"I get it, yeah! If we were to Seal it into the second scroll and key it to our chakra – or to no chakra at all – then we would have the demon, yeah!" Deidara smirked. "I like it, yeah!"

Sasori didn't seem very happy about the idea, though, and he stared carefully at Harry in an attempt to figure out whether they were being tricked or not. Harry used his limited Legilimency skills to steer the puppet master in the desired direction. Ninja on a general basis were very strong mentally, and they posed a serious challenge even for a master of Legilimency. However, Harry wasn't a master of the art, but apparently he was good enough to succeed this time because Sasori nodded once.

"You will live for now. But," the man said, "just to make sure you aren't leading us into a trap, I will do this." He twitched his fingers, and the next thing Harry knew was excruciating pain as five spikes penetrated his body. Two went through his upper arms, two through his thighs, and one straight through his abdomen. Harry couldn't keep in the groan which left him, and he hung limply in the puppet's wooden grip, only groaning again when he was deposited – none too gently – on the sandy ground.

"Get to work, yeah!" Deidara said and gave the green-eyed shinobi a push with his foot, deliberately placing it on the wound in the arm.

Harry gasped, but managed to get into a sitting position. He stuck a hand slowly into his utility pouch, and withdrew it holding two scrolls. One scroll had a green edge, and the second one had a red one. He placed the green one on the sand before him, then unrolled the second one, revealing rows upon rows with runes that the two Akatsuki members didn't understand at all. Harry touched four of said runes, then started making hand-seals in quick succession.

"Finally. Another demon will be added to the Leader's collection." Sasori said quietly.

"Yeah! And we'll be well rewarded, yeah!" Deidara added.

The two scrolls started to glow, the green one more than the red, and smoke started raising form the green scroll and it started shaking, as if something was desperately trying to get out. Sasori and Deidara drew back a bit just in case, their weapons at the ready – both to defend themselves and to kill Harry in case this was a trap.

"I don't like this… yeah…" Deidara muttered as sand started swirling around them, first gently then picking up speed.

Harry smirked inwardly as the last seal was made. _'Idiots! The hand-seals I'm doing don't necessarily correspond with the resulting technique!'_ he thought to himself, then proceeded to say the name of the technique, thusly activating it. "**Kokuangyou no Jutsu!**" (_Bringer of Darkness!_)

The entire landscape around them went pitch dark, and everything disappeared completely. They couldn't even see each other, and they knew they were standing close together. Harry had completely disappeared from their senses, and it was pissing them both off that they had fallen for the trick. They had both seemed to forget that they were dealing with an ANBU Squad Commander – all thanks to some very subtle Legilimency and the discrete use of the _Imperius_ from Harry's side since the start of the duel.

"What!" Deidara shouted, for once foregoing his customary 'yeah'.

"A trap!" Sasori growled. He brought his hands together. "**Kai!**" (_Dispel!_)

But the darkness stayed, it stayed no matter what they tried, and they knew that the hunter had just become the hunted.

Since genjutsu weren't Harry's strongest forte, he had had to pool almost all of his remaining chakra into the technique. He used the small break to quickly and tightly wrap bandages around his wounds – it was a wonder that the four spikes in his arms and legs had missed the bones, and a miracle that the spike that had gone through his abdomen had missed both his spine, and his internal organs. It had a one in a million chance of happening, yet it had happened, and Harry was very grateful for it.

Seeing as he had nearly no chakra left, Harry picked up his katana and sheathed it before he focused on the two Akatsuki members. The two were standing still, trying with all their might to sense from where the attack would come, their eyes searching through the darkness only they could see. It would've been a rather comical sight if the situation hadn't been so dire.

'_Let the hunt begin.'_ Harry thought to himself, and drew a couple of his last kunai and the two Fuuma shuriken that Itachi had given him before he left for the mission to the Wizarding World. _'First target: Akasuna no Sasori.'_

To avoid a Fuuma shuriken attack, then you had to be very good. To avoid it in complete darkness was nigh on impossible, however, Sasori possessed very good instincts and reflexes, otherwise he wouldn't have lived this long. So it really didn't come as a great surprise when the first Fuuma shuriken was avoided at the last possible second, and the following one was intercepted by the scorpion-like tail.

"Over _there_!" Sasori growled and sent several of his own kunai and shuriken in the direction the second Fuuma shuriken had come from. Unknowingly he had just sent the projectiles straight towards his own partner, who was forced to do some fancy moves to avoid them all. Then Sasori was forced to duck as Deidara sent his own barrage of kunai and shuriken in the direction the attack had come from. They continued with this for another couple of attacks before they realised that the 'enemy' wasn't moving (neither wanted to move in case they stepped into deadly traps), and logically concluded that they had been fighting each other.

Harry had been busy whilst this was going on, and had placed several traps all around the two, using some of their own discarded shuriken and kunai seeing has his own were more or less blown to smithereens. The second Fuuma shuriken – the one that Sasori's tail had caught – was connected to an exploding-note-kunai by way of a wire that had been soaked in flammable liquid. And hastily drawn on the Fuuma shuriken was the kanji for explosion.

Sasori removed the Fuuma shuriken lodged between two of the joints of his tail, and it disturbed the delicate trigger which was the kunai. The wire didn't sizzle when the liquid caught fire, it roared to life. The fire spread faster than one could blink, and Sasori only had time for a moment of surprise, before the Fuuma shuriken exploded with tremendous force.

However, Harry hadn't stopped to see if the trap worked, he had turned his attention to the blond explosives expert. _'Second target: Deidara.'_ Seeing as he had already used up most of his weapons, Harry drew his katana again. His wounds were going to hinder him slightly, but the green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander ignored it, and shot off at top speed. No one could match his speed except Maito Gai, but that was only when the taijutsu expert opened his Chakra Gates, and that was a double-edged sword.

The moonlight being briefly reflected on the blade of the katana was the only warning Deidara had, and he raised his hand trying to fight off the katana with a kunai.

The katana simply sliced through the knife, and it would've sliced through Deidara's torso as well if the nukenin hadn't bent over backwards to avoid it. His hands landing on the ground, Deidara flipped over quickly, in the process delivering a kick to Harry's wounded arms, nearly causing the green-eyed man to lose his hold of the sword.

"**Kumogata Nendo!**" (_Spider-shaped Clay!_) Deidara quickly fed the necessary clay into his hand, and less than a second later, a tiny spider was spit out. Deidara literally threw it towards the place where the last attack had come from, where it exploded with a blinding light, but Harry wasn't there anymore.

'_That hand is annoying.'_ Harry had thought to himself at the beginning of the battle when he'd first seen what the hand did, and he was correct. So now, since Deidara's arm was so conveniently stretched out, Harry brought his katana down in a vicious swing, completely severing the limb around elbow-level from the rest of the body.

Deidara screamed and fell to the ground, clutching what was left of his arm. "Damn you!"

Harry panted, and nearly groaned. It seemed like the poison from Sasori's sword was finally kicking in. This meant that he had to get out of there as soon as possible, he couldn't waste anymore time, and the two Akatsuki members soon gave him another good reason to get away.

The left side of Sasori's body – the side which had been closest to the Fuuma shuriken – was badly singed and smoking, and the entire side of the face was missing along with the arm, and lets not talk about the leg. However, the body proved to merely be a puppet, and the real Sasori – red-haired and red-eyed – stepped out of it, and glared all around. "You damaged Hiruko, ANBU Squad Commander!"

The green-eyed man assumed that 'Hiruko' was the name of the puppet, and it was apparently Sasori's favourite, because the young-looking man seemed completely pissed off. _'I better get out of here right now.'_ Harry decided and started to do just that. But a shout from behind had him nearly stopping in his tracks, and it definitely had him cursing.

"**Jibaku Bunshin!**" (_Suicide Bombing Clone!_)

"**Aka Higi: Hyakki no Soen!**" (_Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!_)

Exactly 100 puppets appeared out of nowhere. They started flying all over the place, and Harry was forced to use precious energy in his quest to avoid them all. He also had to avoid the clay-clones of Deidara which appeared when he least expected it, and then proceeded to explode with tremendous force. The entire thing looked rather hopeless, but Harry managed to get enough breathing room for himself to simply apparate away, leaving two angry Akatsuki members behind. As soon as Harry disappeared, so did the illusion of darkness, and said people simply stared angrily at the battlefield, knowing that they were in to condition to chase after the green-eyed man. Not only that, but the shinobi of the Sand were sure to be arriving at any moment to check out the disturbances.

"Deidara, lets get out of here." Sasori finally said. "We need to treat that wound of yours."

"Hai, Master Sasori." The blond replied, and staggered to his feet. "…yeah…"

The two of them disappeared.

The Suna shinobi wouldn't reach the place until an hour later, and would find an empty battlefield.

-x-x-x-x-

Harry groaned and fell to the ground when he appeared inside the small outpost. He was sweaty and he had trouble breathing, heck, he was almost at death's door due to the wounds and the poison. He managed to gather enough strength to stick his hand into his utility pouch, and pull out a small greenish stone.

A bezoar.

He forced himself to swallow it, then waited. Only a few seconds later he started coughing and sputtering, almost as if he was trying to cough up a lung. Blood landed on the ground, and was then followed by the poison. Wherever the poison landed, the ground turned black and started to smoke for a moment, and it seemed to Harry, he was very lucky to have lasted as long as he did.

Once the poison was more or less out of his system, Harry managed to pull himself away from the mess he had made, and collapsed only a few feet away. He would be forever grateful to Hermione, it was she who had suggested that bezoars were introduced to the Shinobi Countries.

'_I need to rest before I try to heal myself, that is if I don't die whilst asleep.'_ The green-eyed man thought as he slipped in and out of unconsciousness. Everything was slowly turning blurry and dark, and he couldn't find the strength to care. _'Just a bit of rest…'_

-x-x-x-x-

There. Please tell me what you think of this insanely long chapter. I'm not sure I like the way the fight turned out.

As for Sasori and Deidara. I've done my best, but I have never really seen them in action – whether in the manga or the anime – so I am sorry if there is something wrong, or incorrect. As said I've done my best with what little information I managed to get a hold of, and I hope that will be enough for now. This is also the reason why neither Deidara nor Sasori use many techniques, I simply don't have enough information for something like that. When I get the chance to see/read about the Gaara-arch where these two first show up, then I may come back and change a few things.

I'm glad that you people liked the last chapter. And Gaara steps into the story in the next chapter, that I promise.

Thanks to:

Morrolan, Wolven Spirits, BasicallyAnIdiot, NamelessHeretic, Tokyo no Ecchi, Night Wanderer, korrd, kobisaki, Crimson Dragongem, Meemei, RBMIfan, 2stupid, Fan of Great Works, disama, Moon-Freak00, darksentinant, Fattyaddy-99, SheA, konekokon, I-Y-T-I, Lady Threarah, TanyaPotter, stickzx, AceZ-Shadow, Princess Hikari of Chrono, Adnexus, dark672, Anave Lipad, Ol' Ollie, Really Bad Fanfiction, silvergrac3, firmin, Shika, Z-AKA Andrea-, The Insane Imortal Dragon, japanese-jew, Lord Myst, Lasgalenya Greenleaves, SasunaruXD, Knives, kirallie, Elvin Flame, primaaryet, Curlz-Shadow Kitsune, Beta the Second, candidus-lupus-full Moon, FireAngel8723, zi ma gesto, EKI-ember, and Shinobi's Fire.


	25. Chapter 25

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note: **I'm sorry about the delay, but not only did I have troubles in trying to figure out how to present this chapter, but my cousin was getting married, and I'm getting ready to move. Either way, please enjoy the following chapter.

**WARNING:** _Time skip_. We go way back in time in this chapter folks. At this point Harry has been in the Shinobi Continent for little more than a year, and is about to open the portal for the first trading caravan.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

Ginny couldn't suppress the giddy feeling in her stomach. It had been a year since Harry had taken off with Orochimaru, and now he was going to open the portal for the first trading caravan to enter the Shinobi Continent since before Grindelwald's time.

The trading caravan itself consisted of about thirty carts of various sizes, most of them pulled along by enormous horses provided by Hagrid. The traders themselves were all people that the Order of the Phoenix had picked out, all of them people that they could trust, and all of them with some form of defence training. Ergo: most of them were retired Aurors, or Aurors that simply wanted a break from the war against Voldemort which was slowly escalating. They had all agreed on the terms set out for this, and all of them had been extensively warned about the possible dangers. Everyone in the caravan had also undergone a lightning-quick course in the Japanese language. They knew enough to make themselves understood, but not enough to raise suspicions from the ninja.

The monks that ran the temple were keeping sharp eyes on the entire caravan. They clearly didn't trust any of the wizards except Hermione, and Ginny figured that there had to have been more to the skirmish Harry had reported getting into on his way through. The Order had quickly noticed that the green-eyed youth tended to heavily understate whatever role he was playing in the Shinobi Continent. Many of them wondered why, but none of them had asked.

'_What is going on over there, Harry?' _the redhead wondered quietly from her place beside one of the lead wagons. _'You are probably already acting on this no-mixing-between-the-two-worlds-rule you mentioned seeing as you don't tell us anything. But I suppose it's okay. I want to see the small boy with the taped, black glasses. I want to see the Harry I fell for, I want to see our Harry again.'_

Ron and Hermione, who were two of the key-characters in all of it, stepped up to the wagon Ginny was in charge of, and the two older teens sighed heavily, their gazes never leaving the round portal in front of them. The two had been some of the most devoted people when it came to research and training, and generally getting ready for this day. The had both grown so much in this one year. Heck, even Fred and George had become more serious than ever before thought possible, and Ginny felt very much left behind.

"Why the serious faces?" Ginny asked her brother. "Aren't you glad that we'll see Harry again after so long?"

"Of course I am," Ron replied. "But I wonder whether it'll really be our Harry."

"You're afraid that it'll be one of the shinobi using that _henge_-thing that Harry told us about?"

Hermione shook her head. "Not at all, no one knows that we're coming, and our cover-story for everything is ready. What we are worried about is Harry himself. We have all noticed that he is glossing over everything that has happened to him during this past year, and the only times he goes into detail is when it's about training-techniques or other information that might be useful."

"Add to that what Bill told us of his meeting with Harry, and the way Harry acted, then it gives us ample reason to worry." Ron sighed again. "Whatever it is this Orochimaru has put Harry through must be very bad if our open-like-a-book, heart-on-his-sleeve friend has changed into this secretive, Slytherin-like person that he is now."

Ginny blinked. "Secretive and Slytherin-like? Don't you two think that you're wrong in that department? I mean, none of us has even met up with Harry in a year! He probably doesn't want to break this no-mixing-of-wizard-and-shinobi-worlds-rule."

The tall redhead stared at her for a moment, and smiled fondly. "You are still rather naïve, Ginny-_chan_."

"Blame that on mum." Ginny muttered.

Hermione smiled as well, but ventured to explain their reasoning to the younger girl. "No matter what happens one thing remains certain: people change. Thusly we can safely deduct that Harry has changed."

"But how can you say that he has changed into a Slytherin?"

"There are several clues. One: because otherwise he wouldn't have survived this long in a world where shinobi thrive. Two: Orochimaru wouldn't have bothered with Harry for so long. And three: the way Harry has glossed over and understated everything that had happened to him since we last saw him. He tried to keep us in the dark doing this, but he has forgotten that we are the people who know him better than he himself does, and our imaginations are a hundred times worse than whatever he could have told us." Hermione finished her speech.

Ron snorted. "I don't know whether to hug him or to hit him when I see him. Undoubtedly he'll deserve both."

A shout went up from one of the monks, and it was clear as to why. The portal was slowly starting to shimmer and ripple, it was opening. Several young monks hurried over and added their own magic to the process, and soon the portal was open completely and the caravan started moving through.

"Remember what Harry told us, people!" Ron shouted out. "We'll come out in the middle of a desert! So put on hats and turbans and whatever else you've got unless you want to fry your brains! Do not hesitate or stand and gape like idiots once we're through the portal and in the canyon that separates our world from theirs. The monks can easily take care of the portal on this side, but Harry is the one taking care of the exit on the other side, and there's only one of him. No matter how powerful, he can't keep the portal open forever. So once you're through the portal, go across the bridge and through the other portal, then move out of the way to let the others through! Lets go!"

Everything went like a well-oiled machine, and although everyone gaped in wonder at the seemingly never-ending canyon as they passed over the stone bridge no one stopped up, and soon everyone had passed through and had gotten into the Shinobi Continent. The hot, dry desert air hit them with all the delicacy of a sledgehammer, and the sun blinded them for a moment, but they were soon getting used to it, and everyone looked around in wonder.

"Well," Fred spoke up. "It's… hot."

"And dry." George added and held up a hand to block the sun.

"Thank you Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, I think we could deduce that for ourselves." Hermione muttered as she tried to spot Harry between the sand dunes.

The twins blinked at her remark. "Which one of us is Sherlock Holmes and which one is Doctor Watson?" they asked at the same time.

Ginny rolled her eyes fondly, but otherwise ignored the entire conversation. She, like the rest of the caravan, was desperately trying to figure out where the hell Harry was. He had said that he had something to give them, so all they could do was settle down and wait for the green-eyed male to show himself.

They didn't have to wait for too long. Harry appeared amongst them like lightning from the blue, giving them all a good scare and causing each and every Auror to draw his or her wand. The black-haired 18 year old stayed in his crouching position on the top of the leading wagon for a moment, observing them, before he held up a hand in greeting and gave them a small grin.

"Yo." He said. "Welcome to the Shinobi Continent."

"HARRY!" both Ron and Hermione shouted, and then there was a session of greetings and hugs and well-wishes and other things that fell in that category, though there was a reprimand or two pushed into it all as well, to make sure that Harry understood just how stupid he had been when he up and left with Orochimaru.

"Calm down, guys," Harry said to them, his face serious. "We don't have the time for this, better said, I don't have the time for this. Orochimaru expects me back two days from now, and I'll be hard pressed to keep his schedule. So please shut up and listen to me?"

People blinked in surprise – never had they seen the Boy Who Lived act in such a commanding manner – but they did as he said; and finally, when everyone had calmed, Harry opened a bag he had been carrying and brought out identical scrolls. "These are all maps of the Shinobi Continent." He explained. "Distribute these amongst yourselves; there should be one map to each cart at the least. Study these maps before you set off, alright? Ron, Hermione, Ginny, come over here please." He waved the three in question over to the side of one of the wagons.

"What is it, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I have special scrolls prepared for you." Harry told them. "As you move through the different lands one of you will need to visit the reigning Lord, and make him sign this treaty." He held up nine scrolls, all of which had differently-coloured edges.

"Is this the no-mixing-betwixt-worlds you mentioned?" Ginny asked.

"Hai. And seeing as the Lords of the countries often dwell close to the Hidden Villages, then it wouldn't be amiss if you get the different shinobi-leaders to sign as well, as a precaution of course. I will not tell you who goes to which country, you will have to see that for yourself, but the person will have to stay in that Hidden Village from then on as an ambassador of sorts."

"Which lands are we visiting?" Hermione asked and unrolled the map in her graps.

Harry pointed. "The Land of Fire, where Konohagakure is the Hidden Village. This is one of the three biggest countries, and definitely one of the most powerful. Next is the Land of Earth with Iwagakure. Watch out for those guys, they're very suspicious and often kill first then ask questions of your corpse." Then he rattled off another couple of names and Hidden Villages, always giving some sort of warning with each name mentioned.

Throughout all this Ginny simply stared at the serious young man in front of her, and after a while she smiled. _'He hasn't changed all that much. He's still our Harry.'_ She decided. Soon afterwards Harry disappeared into the desert and the caravan set out towards the Hidden Village of Sand. _'I will take the first post, Harry. I will make you see that I am no little girl and that I can take care of myself, and neither you nor my brothers need to protect me anymore.'_

-x-x-x-x-

Ginny had easily slipped into the civilian population of Sand, and was running her own shop and caravan outpost. In the four years after arriving in the Shinobi Continent she had befriended many people, especially the Kazekage and his family. However, the Kazekage worried her. The feudal lord of the Wind Country was slowly but surely cutting down on the missions and budget of the Sand shinobi, and it got more and more difficult for the Hidden Village to stay in the competition that was created by Konoha.

Looking up when the bell above the door chimed, Ginny smiled as she saw a pregnant Karura – the Kazekage's wife – enter the shop. "Good day, Karura-san! Where are Temari-chan and Kankuro-kun?"

"They are being watched by Chiyo at the moment." The other woman replied. "Ginny-san, may we talk?"

Ginny blinked but nodded. She quickly closed the shop for lunch, then led Karura into the back. "Is something wrong?"

Karura put a hand protectively on her protruding stomach. "You have been a good friend of mine for these past four years, so I suppose that I can tell you. My husband… he…" she took a deep breath. "He wants to seal the Shukaku into our unborn child, to use him as a weapon and thusly make Suna strong."

"Seal the Shukaku in…?" Ginny was horrified. Harry would definitely need to know about this.

"Hai. He got the idea from the Yondaime Hokage who sealed the Kyuubi into a baby just six months ago. I don't want my little boy to suffer the same fate as that child, I don't want him to be driven mad by the Shukaku. And this organisation, the Akatsuki, it hunts for those who contain demons! If we go through with this then my child will be number one on their hit-list seeing as the Shukaku is the weakest of the Nine Demons."

Ginny hugged the woman, and they spent a while in silence until something Hermione had said triggered her mind, and she simply couldn't help but ask: "And the sacrifice needed for the Shukaku to be sealed…?"

Karura didn't say anything for another long while. "Me." She said finally. "He wants to use me as the sacrifice."

Ginny could only stare.

Despite many protests from Chiyo, Ginny and Karura, the Kazekage went through with his plan. The birth of the Kazekage's third child was also the death of his wife.

They named the child Gaara.

-x-x-x-x-

Ginny stared at the small redheaded child through the window of her shop. She knew who he was, everyone knew. In the three years since his birth, Gaara had become infamous. Wherever the poor boy went, disaster of some sort followed, and people had quickly learned to stay as far away from the small container of the Shukaku as possible. Seeing as children followed the examples of the grown-ups, it meant that the small boy had no one to play with and everyone stared at him in fear.

Ginny herself hadn't seen much of the child since his birth, she had tried to keep away from the Kazekage since the man sacrificed his own wife to create a weapon which he now didn't know how to control. But as she stood and stared at the small figure, she couldn't help herself and she exited her shop quickly.

The boy looked up at her when she approached, his aquamarine eyes wary both from caution and from his never-ending insomnia.

The red-haired woman smiled as kindly as she could, and kneeled down in front of the boy. "Hello, Gaara-kun."

"… 'lo…" Came the shy and slightly-hopeful reply.

"What are you doing out here this late?" Ginny asked gently, the smile never leaving her face.

"… wait'n' fo' 'ash'maru…"

"For Yashamaru-san?" she repeated to be sure she had understood, and Gaara nodded. "But he won't be back from his mission in another three days! You are either going to freeze to death or die of dehydration if you stay here. You should go home and wait for him there."

The child simply stared up at her.

Ginny made a decision then and there. If Harry could adopt a demon-container, then so could she. Besides, she owed it to her friend Karura. Since the woman wasn't amongst the living anymore, then Ginny was going to be Gaara's mother from now on. "Right, if you don't want to go home, then you can come with me."

Gaara blinked in surprise.

"Just over there, that shop. See it? That's where I live. You can come with me, and keep an eye out from the windows, Yashamaru-san has to pass my shop on his way to the Kazekage's office so you won't miss him." Ginny stood up, dusted off her clothes, then held out a hand. "Well, Gaara-kun?"

"… your name…?" Gaara asked.

"Weasley Ginevra, but call me Ginny." Ginny smiled down at the boy.

The little boy stared at her for a long moment, then he shyly put his hand in hers and they made their way towards the shop.

It was the first meeting between Gaara and Ginny.

-x-x-x-x-

It was insanely hot outside, but that was to be expected when one lived in the desert. Especially during the summer months. Ginny found it almost unbearable, and she longed for the cooling shade of her little shop, but she had to have something to eat and this had driven her out of her sanctuary.

'_I should have picked Water Country instead,'_ she complained to herself as she walked. _'At least they would never have fear for running out of water and having to ration everything.'_ Her thoughts were cut off as she heard children screaming in delight as they played with a football. And on the other side of the playground, in the shadows of a building, stood a small, lonely redheaded child that she recognised at once. Her feet headed automatically that way.

"Gaara-kun?"

The boy looked up in surprise. "… 'nny-san…?"

She smiled. "I'm off to buy some vegetables. Do you want to help me?"

The already large eyes, got larger. "…me?"

"Hai." Ginny nodded. "Ne, will you?"

Gaara smiled as well. "Hai!"

-x-x-x-x-

"Yashamaru-san, Gaara-kun, welcome to my shop."

"Ginny-san," Yashamaru nodded in return. "Gaara-sama told me that he's been spending lots of time with you these last six months."

Ginny nodded with a smile. "Hai. He often helps me to put things on the shelves or to do my shopping. Here you go, Gaara-kun," she handed the boy a blood pop. The redheaded boy grinned happily and scampered onto the closest chair, then continued to happily suck on the sweet that he had quickly gotten hooked on. Ginny turned back to the sandy-haired man. "Anything I can do for you, Yashamaru-san?"

"I hope you can. I'm going on a mission in a week, and I don't know when I'll be back. If it weren't too much trouble could you check in on Gaara-sama for me whilst I'm gone?"

She nodded again. "Of course I can, but wouldn't it be better if he stayed with someone? Isn't he too young to be alone?"

"Who would let him stay with them?" Yashamaru asked quietly.

"He can stay with me then." Ginny decided. "And no, it's no trouble. I have an unused room which he can use, and he's so helpful around the shop that I really can't see why I shouldn't let him stay."

Yashamaru looked at her for a minute, and then smiled as well. "If you are sure, Ginny-san…"

" 'ank yo', 'inny-'an!" Gaara managed to say around his sweet.

Ginny laughed and gave the boy a loose hug. "Anytime, Gaara-chan."

-x-x-x-x-

They were sitting together in the room which had kind of become Gaara's since he had started staying with Ginny whenever Yashamaru was out on a mission. The room wasn't big at all, but it was cosy, and the walls were full of drawings that Gaara had drawn, and in one corner there were a couple of fairytale books that Ginny had especially ordered from the Wizarding World for him.

Gaara looked up at the young woman that was dressed for bed. "What's this?" he asked and poked the back-and-white… thingy that Ginny had handed him.

Ginny smiled. "It's a teddy bear, a panda to be precise. My mother made it for you so that you won't be alone anymore at night whilst most are asleep."

He stared. "Your… okaa-san… _made_ it for _me_?"

She nodded. "Mhmm! I sent her the picture we took – the one with you, me and Yashamaru-san – and she said that the newest member of her family had to have something as a welcome-gift. Yashamaru got a pair of earmuffs."

"… family…?" Gaara said the word as if it was completely foreign. "She considers me… family…?"

"Hai, of course she does. And so does Ron and Fred and George as well. So, what are you going to call him?" she leaned closer to the child.

He blinked in surprise.

"The teddy bear, it needs a name. What are you going to call him, Gaara-chan?"

The boy thought for a moment. "I'll call him _Itóshiì_."

"Itóshiì? That means 'dear', doesn't it?" Ginny asked and received a nod. "Why?"

She never received an answer, but from that day on Gaara rarely went anywhere without Itóshiì by his side.

-x-x-x-x-

Ginny looked around the shop, but she couldn't find her little helper. "Gaara-chan? Gaara-chan? Where are you? Gaara?" she made sure she had locked the door, then went around the house in search of the missing five-year-old, occasionally calling out the boy's name. She was getting worried about Gaara lately. The boy had lived through five assassination attempts to date, and it sure as hell had affected the small child.

"Gaara-chan?" she called again as she got to the second storey of the house. "Gaara-chan? Where are you!" she was just starting to get seriously worried, when she heard a sound from the bathroom. Ginny hurried over and nearly threw open the door. What she saw nearly gave her a heart attack, and her legs couldn't bear her anymore causing her to fall to her knees. "… G-Gaara-ch-chan…?"

Gaara stood there in the middle of the bathroom, a pair of scissors raised over his arm, ready to strike down. The shredded sleeve of Gaara's shirt – and the other holes in his clothes – testified to the fact that he had been doing this a couple of times already, and yet, there was no blood anywhere to be seen.

He looked up when she entered. "Ginny…"

"Wh-what a-are you d-doing…?" Ginny managed to stutter out as she tried to comprehend the situation.

"… I wanted to know what it feels like." Gaara replied.

"…what…?"

"The boy at the playground fell and scraped his knee. He said it hurt." The young boy looked up at her. "I wanted to know what 'hurt' felt like…"

Ginny held out her arms, and the boy quickly scampered over. "Oh, Gaara-chan, please do not scare me like that." She said as she put away the scissors.

"But nothing happened!" Gaara protested. "I tried so many times! On my knee, on my shin, on my arms, and no matter what nothing happened! There's a shield of sand protecting me." He looked up at her. "Does this make me a monster because I cannot feel?"

"Of course not, Gaara-chan! There are two ways to feel something," she explained. "There are physical feelings."

"Physical feelings?"

"Hai, that is when one – for example – falls and hurts oneself, like that boy did. But those things go away after a while, and most are forgotten. Then there is the other kind of feeling, the one you feel with your heart." Ginny put her palm right above Gaara's heart. "These are the important feelings that last – sometimes forever. It's what's in your heart that makes the difference between 'monster' and 'human'."

"What am I?" large, aquamarine eyes stared up at her seriously.

Ginny thought for a moment, then asked: "What do you fell about Yashamaru-san? Do you want to stay in Yashamaru-san's company? Do you enjoy talking with him?"

"Hai."

"That means that you like Yashamaru-san. And Kazekage-sama, what do you feel towards him? Do you want to play with him?"

Gaara shook his head. "He's bad. He and the other villagers have _those_ eyes."

"Then you don't like the Kazekage. And me? Am I like Yashamaru-san or like Kazekage-sama?"

"Like Yashamaru-san!" the small boy grinned. "Which means that I like you too!"

"And I like you." Ginny hugged the boy closer. "See? You are anything but a monster."

-x-x-x-x-

"Ginny-san?"

Ginny exited the backroom where she had been making sure that everything from the Wizarding World had arrived as it should have, and smiled at her guest. "Yashamaru-san! What can I help you with today? Didn't Gaara-chan follow you today?"

"No, he didn't," the young man replied. "Gaara-sama's currently at the playground. Ginny-san, I… I'm required for another mission tonight, and I was wondering if you could check up on Gaara-sama for me whilst I'm gone?"

"Of course, you know that you don't have to ask. But are you certain that you want to let him stay alone again? Isn't he still too young? I mean, he's only six years old."

Yashamaru smiled sadly. "I realise that children are treated differently in civilian families, but Kazekage-sama wanted to start Gaara-sama's training, and that means that Gaara-sama has to learn how go handle things alone."

"I know, I know, but I don't like it." Ginny sighed. "Alright, I'll check up on Gaara-chan tonight."

"Please make sure that he stays inside after ten, and thank you."

It wasn't long after Yashamaru left that some disturbance from the playground drew Ginny – and other curious people – to the streets. A group of children were looking upwards as their ball floated down on a cloud of sand from a high plateau, and landed in Gaara's hands. The children looked horrified at this development, and totally refused to accept the ball back when Gaara held it out to them.

"Run for it!" one of the boys shouted, and the entire flock turned heel and ran.

Gaara looked so sad at that moment, that Ginny couldn't help herself and started running towards the boy, intent on giving him a hug. But suddenly the sand from the ground rose up and grabbed a hold of two of the kids. It started dragging them back towards Gaara, and everyone started panicking – especially the parents. The sand around the kids' legs tightened suddenly, and another bout of sand rose up, ready to strike the girl, who screamed in fright. Ginny had by this time reached Gaara, and fell down on her knees before him, and pulled the boy into a hug. This kind of situation had happened a couple of times before, and she knew what to do by now.

"Gaara-chan, please calm down." She whispered. "Gaara-chan, please!" Slowly the boy calmed and the sand became sand again, and everyone vacated the playground faster than lightning. Ginny didn't move from her position until Gaara had relaxed completely, and then she unwound her arms from around him but didn't move away. She smiled. "Welcome back to me, Gaara-chan."

"Ginny…" the boy mumbled, his head bowed. "Thank you."

Ginny simply kissed his forehead. "Come on, I think I have some blood pops left somewhere."

After a while, and once they were safely back in the small shop, Gaara spoke up again. "It hurts. Here." He put a small hand over his heart.

"A wound of the heart." Ginny nodded.

"Wound of the heart?"

"Do you remember the talk we had about feelings? When I said that the most important feelings are those of the heart, the feelings that last forever?"

"Hai. But how do I heal it?"

She sighed. "Wounds of the heart are difficult to heal since there are no ointments, and sometimes they don't heal at all. However, there is one way to heal a heart. It's a troublesome thing, it's difficult to determine whether it's a true or false medicine, and you can only get it from another person."

"What is it?"

"It's love."

"Love? What is that? How do I get it?"

"You have already received it." Ginny smiled and hugged the boy again. "Love is the spirit of devoting yourself to someone important and close to you. It is expressed by caring for and protecting that person – like a mother for a child, like Yashamaru-san loves you, like I love you – and I believe that the sand-shield around you which automatically protects you, does so out of love."

Gaara seemed to think over this for a moment, before he looked up at her again. "Does this mean that you are my okaa-chan?"

Ginny blinked in surprise. "If you want me to be."

The boy nodded eagerly, a smile back on his face. "Hai!"

"Then I'm your new okaa-chan," she confirmed, whilst silently wondering if the Kazekage would blow his top when he heard about this. The man had never been very fond of the relationship between Ginny and Gaara, but he hadn't dared to do anything to Ginny in order to stop it, which meant that Gaara had been the one to suffer alone.

"Thank you!" there was a short silence. "Okaa-chan, I need a favour."

"Hai? What is it?"

"I need an ointment for that girl's leg. Do you have anything?"

Ginny smiled. "I think I can find something." She replied and got up to search the shelves. Once she had found what she was looking for, she packed it in a paper bag, and handed it to her unofficial, newly-proclaimed son. "There you go, Gaara-chan. once you have delivered this, please hurry back here. Yashamaru-san said that you should stay home tonight whilst he is gone, but I think we'll ignore that. We're a newly-made mother-and-son pair, and we need to celebrate." She bent down and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Be careful."

Gaara was practically glowing. "Hai!"

Ginny spent the time until Gaara's return with making a special kind of cookies her own mother had taught her, and which she knew that Gaara loved to munch on. But when Gaara entered the house again, she could see that there was something wrong. The boy was so quiet and introspective, that she blinked in surprise. "Gaara-chan?"

"… It didn't go well…" he whispered. He looked up at her. "Why? Why am I the only one who is a monster? _What_ am I?"

"What happ-" Ginny was cut off in the middle of the sentence by Gaara screaming her name and something sharp and deadly embedding itself in various spots along her back. She gasped in surprise, her eyes wide, then she fell to the ground and just laid there, completely stunned for a moment. _'What happened?'_ she wondered. "G-Gaara…"

Gaara was kneeling by her, his small hands shaking her shoulder. "Okaa-chan! Okaa-chan!" then he glared hatefully up at the masked attacker. "Why am I the only one who has to go through this!" he shouted and his small fist shot out. The sand from outside reacted at once, and broke through the windows and the doors. It wrapped around the attacker faster than he could move, and as Gaara made a fist with his hand the sand crushed its captive easily, before letting the boneless figure fall to the ground.

"Gaara-chan…" Ginny shakily raised one of her hands and the boy quickly grabbed it. "G-go behind the counter, Gaara-chan, and in the lowest drawer you will find a small med-medallion with numbers all around the edge. W-we can ca-call for help with i-it. P-please bring it to me." She did her best to keep the excruciating pain she was currently feeling all along her back, out of her voice, and she thought she had managed quite good.

Gaara scampered off and found the medallion. On the way back to Ginny, he stopped by the attacker and after a moment of indecision, he lifted the veil that hid the face from sight. Gaara cried out and Ginny gasped.

The attacker was Yashamaru.

-x-x-x-x-

Ginny sighed. Ever since that night when Yashamaru had tried to kill them Gaara had never been the same. That night had really changed him for the worse, and especially when they realised that Yashamaru's attack had hit vital nerves along the spine, and Ginny would never be able to walk again as long as she lived – no medicine, be it muggle, shinobi or magical, could help her now. The years following the attack had been hard and definitely not good, especially for Gaara. He had become more distant and so much colder, the little boy had turned into a terrifying killing machine, and he only occasionally listened to her. His training had been stepped up insanely, and he really had turned into the monster he was accused of being.

The damn Shukaku really hadn't helped things either.

A couple of months ago Gaara had left to participate in the Chunnin Exams hosted by Konoha. Ginny knew that that wasn't the entire reason, but seeing as Gaara hadn't told her anything she didn't know what else was supposed to happen. However, she had warned everyone that there was something going on. She knew that Konoha would make it, and she had been proven right when Gaara and what was left of Sand's forces returned just a couple of days ago, all very low on morale and all cursing the name of a certain Snake Sannin.

Gaara had entered the shop and then the two of them had simply stared at each other for a long while, until the boy had blinked and looked away for the first time in six years. Ginny had smiled happily, having seen the difference in Gaara's aquamarine eyes, and she had rolled in her wheelchair out from behind the counter, and over to him.

"Welcome back to me, Gaara-chan." She said and leaned up to kiss his forehead.

"… 'kaa… -chan…" he hadn't called her that in ages, though he had called the Shukaku for 'okaa-san', and that had worried her. But now it seemed like her little boy was back.

Things were looking up.

-x-x-x-x-

Two days after Gaara's return from Konoha, a patrol on the graveyard shift reported a serious fight towards the south-west of Suna, and Gaara was one of those who went with the group to find out what was going on. The village was in turmoil from what had happened and the loss of the Kazekage, but they seemed to flock to Gaara like bees to honey, and Ginny had no doubt that the redheaded boy would end up as the newest Kazekage. This thought amused her thoroughly.

'_The one they hated and shunned is the one they choose for their leader.'_ She chuckled to herself. _'Humans are strange creatures.'_

It was at this point that Temari ran into the shop. She was quickly followed by Kankuro, and the two then stood there for a minute in an attempt to regain their breaths.

"Temari-san, Kankuro-kun, is something wrong?" Ginny asked and wheeled her way over to the two teens.

"Ginny-san…" Kankuro panted. "G-Gaara told us to bring you to the hospital."

Ginny blinked. "Why? My check-up was last week."

"The man we found." Temari said. "Gaara says that you know him."

"You found a man? Where?"

"In the abandoned outpost south-west of here. He was one of the three combatants we heard about two days ago." Kankuro replied as he grabbed the handles of the wheelchair, and started to gently wheel Ginny out of the shop. "He's a Konoha ANBU Squad Commander from what we could figure out, and he was apparently on his way back from the portal to the Other World when he was attacked by two Akatsuki members – we found one of those cloud-decorated cloaks, and a lot of blood to boot, but-"

Temari cut him off. "Anyway, Gaara's waiting in the room. He says he thinks he knows who the person is, but he wants to wait for you to make a positive ID."

Ginny had gotten a very bad feeling about it all during their trip to the hospital and from what the two teens had told her, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she was wheeled into the hospital room by Kankuro. There, on the bed, with bandages all over, and several monitors surrounding the bed, laid none other than…

"Harry!"

-x-x-x-x-

There. Please tell me what you think.

There were several other scenes that I wanted to bring into this chapter, but I figured that it would simply end up as far too long – and I would've fallen asleep before I could write them – so I'm either going to scrap those, or I'm going to end up using them as flashbacks (you've got to love flashbacks, they're so darn useful!). One flashback might even happen next chapter if all goes well.

I'm glad you all liked the fight. I was worried it was going to be really bad. From now on I take my hat off to anyone who writes fight-scenes. They are notoriously difficult. My current source of information is Wikipedia and some other **Naruto**-related sites, and I'm glad that they gave me the correct information!

As to why the names of characters belonging to other anime/manga keep on popping out all over my stories, the explanation is very simple: No, they aren't those particular characters brought into the story, but rather me who doesn't have the imagination to create my own names, and therefore steal someone else's. Yep, there you have it, the shameful truth.

I have a **Naruto**-only story out – '_Flip Flop and Fly_' – and I would appreciate it if you would take a look at it and tell me what you think.

Thanks to:

TanyaPotter, XtakaX27, NamelessHeretic, Fattyaddy-99, honebar, Shonbi's Fire, kobisaki, Sumarra, BasicallyAnIdiot, Night Wanderer, Adnexus, dark672, nantukoprime, HiddenETC, Wolven Spirits, The Insane Imortal Dragon, Lord Myst, Monks N More, oldmagic, Beta the Second, FireAngel8723, firmin, Meemei, cheerful-pinkstar, Anave Lipad, Angranse, Curlz-Shadow Kitsune, Senyor Fier Mensheir, (…), 2stupid, AceZ-Shadow, Rinzei86, Ol' Ollie, Sk8er7, silvergrac3, zi ma gesto, Gogolu, Young Phoenix, Morrolan, magerm, I-Y-T-Y, hittocerebattosai, PersonaJXT, Z-AKA Andrea- Sarah R Potter, makenzi, candidus-lupus-full Moon, LazarOfTheWind, muto shizuka, majin buu 21, falseproffitt, RevanLah, kirallie, Alucard29, Storm Master Tempest, Padfoot and Moony03, Jesp-R, SPARKLING EYES, stayblue, FrznTears and Chibi of Many Names.


	26. Chapter 26

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note: **I'm sorry about the absence, but I've been busy moving and getting used to school and all that. A long chapter ahead as a sort of apology for the long wait. Enjoy!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

"_Gaara-chan…" Ginny shakily raised one of her hands and the boy quickly grabbed it. "G-go behind the counter, Gaara-chan, and in the lowest drawer you will find a small med-medallion with numbers all around the edge. W-we can ca-call for help with i-it. P-please bring it to me." She did her best to keep the excruciating pain she was currently feeling all along her back out of her voice, and she thought she had managed quite good._

_Gaara scampered off and found the medallion. On the way back to Ginny, he stopped by the attacker and after a moment of indecision, he lifted the veil that hid the face from sight. Gaara cried out and Ginny gasped._

_The attacker was Yashamaru._

"… _W… w-why… Yashamaru, why!" Gaara managed to sob out._

_Unfortunately Ginny lost consciousness at this point, and she never knew what was said between Gaara and his former retainer. She wasn't long gone, but when she did wake up again there was a large part of her wall, floor and ceiling missing, Yashamaru had been replaced by a blackened spot consistent with large explosions, and Gaara and she herself were both protected by spheres of sand which was slowly dissolving._

"_Gaara-chan…" Ginny breathed, then gasped upon seeing the somewhat un-hinged glint that had entered Gaara's eyes when the boy turned towards her. But the look disappeared quickly, and the boy hurried over and held out the communication medallion for her to take. "I… I can't… C-could you do it for me, Gaara-chan?"_

_The boy looked at her for a moment. "What do I do?" his voice was as emotionless as his face and eyes._

_Ginny smiled. "T-there are numbers en-engraved on each s-side of the medallion. I want you to p-press the following: eight… five… twelve… and sixteen… somebody will answer…"_

_They didn't have to wait long before the help arrived. _

"_Well, well! That is quite the fix you've gotten yourself into, Ginny-**chan**." The ANBU that had appeared lifted his mask off his face. _

_The suffix added to her name spoke clearly of just how stupid and immature the man thought she had been, but it also spoke of a certain fondness. There was no disrespect or anger at all in what was to her a far too-rarely heard voice, and that gave her some hope._

_The redheaded woman smiled weakly. "…Harry… help us…"_

_The green-eyed man didn't bother to reply verbally, he simply got to work._

-x-x-x-x-

Harry stared up at the ceiling of his room. He had been lying in this room in the Suna hospital for the past three days, and it had been four days since the patrol had found him. Ginny had been in and out at least twice a day, and even Gaara had visited once. The insomniac boy had come to tell him in detail about what had happened at Konoha during Harry's absence. It had been a weird conversation, it was as if Gaara had been attempting to beg forgiveness for Suna's treachery. And although he hadn't known everything, Gaara had known enough, thusly Harry had at once started thinking up plans and ideas on what needed to be done to restore the Leaf as soon as he got back.

Harry had also asked Gaara to send a message to Konoha because the medical staff had refused to let him travel without an escort, and now they were waiting for a shinobi arrive so that he could finally be on his way and stop doing his best to annoy the hell out of the doctors and the nurses.

The escort arrived three days after that particular conversation, and based on the time the message-bird used in getting to Konoha, and the speed the man must have used to get to Suna so quickly, Harry easily surmised that it was one of the best ANBU in the Hokage's service.

'_Idiots,'_ the green-eyed man thought as he dressed in a fresh ANBU uniform given to him. _'The medical staff had to be bastards, didn't they? Dammit, they requested for an ANBU escort when they know just in how much trouble Konoha is at the present. One ANBU is one shinobi too much!'_

He had to forego the ANBU mask seeing as his own was crushed, though a simple genjutsu depicted a sort of see-through, blurred, wolf-shaped mask not unlike the one he usually wore. He strode through the halls and corridors of the hospital with his head held high and a glare at the ready for any healer that didn't get out of his way fast enough. His escort was standing outside the hospital along with Gaara, Temari, Kankuro and Ginny.

Harry recognised the ANBU at once, and nodded. "Yamato-san."

The ANBU bowed politely. "Ookami-sama. It's good to see that you seem so well. When we received the message, we were afraid that the wounds were a lot worse."

"They are." A brave healer spoke up. "The wounds haven't fully healed internally, but we couldn't keep the guy still long enough for the healing process to finish, so we're sending him off with you. Just make sure that he gets lots of rest."

"Of course." The young ANBU simply nodded in agreement even though he – and everyone else – knew that Harry could easily pull rank on him if the occasion called for it.

"Good!" After saying his part, the man hurried off. Harry had been glaring at him throughout the speech, and the doctor found it better for his own health to disappear.

Harry turned to Ginny and the three teenagers, and did a short bow. "I thank you for everything you've done for me."

"On the behalf of Sunagakure we-… I-… _we_ apologise once again for our actions." The usually so silent Gaara spoke up, and everyone else blinked in surprise.

The green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander stared at the container of the Shukaku, whilst his thoughts were running wild. Ginny had told him about her suspicions of the people of Suna choosing Gaara as their new Kazekage, but this was the first time that he saw a glimpse of the required skills for a leader of a Hidden Village, emerge in the insomniac redhead.

'_A diamond in the rough, eh? Well, Ginny, you might be right about that. A little more polish, and he should have a good chance. Lets see if I can't help it along.'_ He thought, then smiled slightly and bowed again, this time deeper and specifically to Gaara. This action of respect and recognition from someone placed so much higher than Gaara, shocked everyone there, and both Temari and Kankuro couldn't keep their jaws from dropping. Even Gaara showed a brief flash of surprise before he was emotionless again, and Ginny simply smiled.

"I accept your apologies, Gaara-san," Harry was careful to word himself. "When we get back to Konoha, I will be sure to inform them of your side of the story. We were all tricked by Orochimaru, and if we become divided now then he and the Akatsuki can easily pick us off one by one." He straightened, and nodded to them. "Well, sayonara."

With that simple goodbye Harry and Yamato set off. They kept a moderate pace whilst in the village to keep hostility and suspicion to the minimum, but upped their speed considerably once having been cleared by the guards and being outside the gates. They were soon running through the desert at a pace that was considered normal for ANBU, perhaps even a bit slow, but to lower ranked shinobi and civilians it was almost faster than the eye could see. They couldn't shift over into maximum speed before they had cleared the patrolling guards along the border between Fire Country and the Wind Country, it was simple common courtesy and a show of respect for the treaties between the countries.

"Why did you act as if Gaara-san was the Kazekage?" Yamato asked.

"Because one day he will be just that. It might take half a year, or three years, but Gaara will become the Godaime Kazekage, mark my words." Harry replied with a small smile.

During the rest of their moderate run, Harry was sure to quiz Yamato on what had happened in Konoha during his absence, and the news he got weren't good.

"It's not good, Ookami-sama," Yamato said. "The attack came rather as a surprise, but your warning to Hatake-san, Hyuuga-san and Uchiha-san made sure that they didn't catch us totally unprepared. However, despite this, Konoha suffered. There were great damages in the rural districts, and there was a loss of civilian and shinobi lives, though not as many as it could have been. A combined group of Sand and Sound forces managed to summon an enormous, three-headed snake which proved to be troublesome and destructive; and we were also attacked by shinobi from both Hidden Villages."

"There is something you aren't telling me, Tenzo." Harry stated, using the ANBU's real name for emphasis.

"Yukishiro Kabuto, his team and his jounin teacher proved to be traitors, just like you warned us of, and Sandaime Hokage-sama fought Orochimaru. He lost." The other replied without blinking. "And please call me by my code name, Ookami-sama."

"Who lost?"

"Sarutobi-sama."

Harry sighed. So the old man was dead, huh? It had happened as he had feared it would, and not for the first time did he wish that he had been wrong in his assumptions. Finding a new Hokage would be hell. "Who is in charge?"

Yamato nearly groaned. "That's one of the biggest problems we currently have to deal with. With no Hokage the Council of Clan Heads is trying its best to keep things in order, but they don't have the same recognition and power the Hokage has… _had_. The Elders are doing their best, but they have even less power than the Council. Jiraiya-sama showed up during the Exam itself, but not even he can help the situation much. Add to that the fact that the two youngest sons of the Lord of the Fire Country hastened to Konoha the second they heard about the attack, and you have a right mess with no one really knowing what is going on."

"Great heavens." The green-eyed man could already feel a monstrous headache coming on. Both the Council of Clan Heads and the Elders were, more than not, a part of the judicial branch of politics in Konoha, and although they were respected, they weren't good at ruling the entire village. There were too many conflicts between the Clan Heads and the people, and also between the Clan Heads themselves. The Elders were in the same position, but their greatest fault was that they kept themselves away from daily life in Konoha, and to the people they didn't seem to know much about anything important. And when it came to the Fire Lord's two youngest sons everyone knew that they were some of the most stupid and idiotic people on the face of the planet. Even the Fire Lord himself had admitted to it!

"It's total chaos!" Yamato continued. "The two boys arrived not long after the Fire Lord had left Konoha, and the carriages had to have passed each other on the road, yet the two young lords stubbornly held on to their claim of coming to rescue their father. They've stayed in Konoha since then, and given us nothing but trouble. And since they're technically on the same rank as the Hokage, then they can overrule everything that the Council and the Elders try to get done, and they do so as well!"

"What about the other two ANBU Squad Commanders?" Harry asked curiously. His fellows in rank should have been able to keep everything under some resemblance of control.

"Usagi-sama is in the hospital in a coma. The wounds he received from the three-headed snake were critical, and last I heard he might not wake up at all. Uma-sama decided that she's too old for the life of a shinobi, and has retired. The person who's to take over her job hasn't been chosen yet seeing as we need all Squad Commanders there for that."

"I hate politics." Harry muttered, then shook his head. "There's no time for us to take things slowly, or else Konoha might be in ruins by the time we get there. As soon as we've passed the border I'm apparating us to the village."

Yamato looked at him. "Are you sure? Your wounds were serious."

"If I weren't sure then I wouldn't have suggested it. We're still going to lose two days no matter what we do," the ANBU Squad Commander replied. "Friggin hell, its seems like when you want something done properly you've got to do it yourself."

-x-x-x-x-

As soon as Harry and Yamato had checked in with the border patrol, Harry apparated them both to a mile outside Konoha, and then the two of them set off at top speed, with the green-eyed shinobi easily pulling ahead of his companion. He would've pulled even further ahead, but the wounds still weren't completely healed and they slowed him down considerably. Therefore it was no great shock when the guards at the gate easily spotted the two approaching ANBU, and a look of surprise was shared between those on duty when they recognised Harry. The wounds must be really bad when even simple chunnin-ranked shinobi could spot the one man who was rumoured to be able to sneak in and out of Konoha faster than the wind.

"Welcome back, Ookami-sama!" one of the chunnins exclaimed with relief.

"Please hurry and help get everything under control again!" the other said almost desperately. "I'm usually a teacher at the Academy! I'm not qualified for guard duty such as this!"

Harry simply nodded, and continued on his trek to the Hokage Tower. On the way he could see just how bad the village had been damaged, and also just how terribly disorganised people were. There were, of course, some who tried to start repairing some of the damage, but without the official seal of approval it was difficult to get materials. And the civilians were also very suspicious at this point in time, always looking over their shoulders and wondering whether their next door neighbour wasn't a spy for the bad guys. It hadn't been this bad even during the Stone-Leaf war almost two decades ago!

'_This is going to take time. And headaches.'_ Harry groaned.

The Hokage Tower could be described in one word: pandemonium.

It was sheer and utter pandemonium.

Harry could only stand in the opening and stare like an idiot at the chaos inside. The ground floor – which was usually used as the office where the shinobi received their missions – was turned into… well, into… actually, he couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be, and that was really bad. Confused ANBU, chunnin, jounnin and gennin were running around like headless chickens. They bumped into each other, they lost their mounds of papers, it all looked like a panicky class of Academy students! And from the sounds that originated from the first floor – which was where the waiting lounge and a couple of meeting rooms were situated – it wasn't much better there. Due to all the noise Harry couldn't even begin to figure out what went on at the second floor, but he was willing to bet that all the offices situated there were in total disarray.

Straight in the middle of the insanity in front of him, he spotted two people dressed in kimonos of the finest make, and there was no doubt that they were the sons of the Fire Lord. So, deciding to get two birds with one stone, Harry darted into the room. He grabbed the two closest potted plants, then promptly hit first one then the other of the Fire Lord's youngest sons over the head with the poor, innocent houseplants. The pandemonium stopped, and everyone stared in surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry! It simply wasn't possible for me to watch where I was going in all the insanity and mess around here. I hope you two weren't hurt?" the green-eyed man directed the question to the two unconscious forms, neither of which answered for obvious reasons. "You weren't? Excellent! Someone please drag those two out of the way, we need to get things under control around here."

The closest shinobi were starting to grin in happiness, and several of them hurried to obey. They picked up the bodies of the two boys, and then turned to Harry. "Where are we to put them?" one asked, the grin still firmly planted on his face.

"I don't know. Throw them out on the streets, put them in a broom closet, or something. As long as they don't disturb us, then I'm happy." Harry replied with a careless hand gesture.

"Yes sir!" came the joyful reply, and the group disappeared with their precious burdens.

Harry turned his attention back to the others in the room. "Alright, lets get this show organised. Which ones of you are supposed to be handling the guard-duty list?"

Several hands went into the air. There were shinobi of every rank, and none of them were the ones who usually dealt with setting up the guard-duty list.

"Tatami Iwashi! Tobitake Tonbo! Are the two of you here?" Harry roared out, and it didn't take long before the two mentioned showed up. They stood in front of the green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander, their postures straight and their eyes focused straight ahead. "Now, I'm not really into this, but as far as I know the two of you are regulars behind the desk in the guard office. Correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Great. Pick three qualified chunnin and get going. You can use the second meeting room upstairs."

"Yes sir!" the two quickly called out a few names, gathered the lists of guards that had been floating around the room, and disappeared upstairs.

"Umino Iruka! You're in charge of receiving, organising, classifying and distributing missions. Pick ten others, five chunnin, four jounnin and one ANBU, and get to work. This office will be free soon, but until then you'll have to cram yourself into the little side room at the back there."

Iruka nodded seriously, and then started to look for his chosen companions.

"What about the Academy?" a female chunnin with glasses and rather curly hair, asked.

Harry thought for a moment. "Gather all the students outside, Suzume-san. And you," he pointed to a random chunnin, "you can gather all the gennin outside as well. Now, Nara Yoshino, Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo. I'm putting you in charge of going through all the paperwork that's been piling up. Categorize it, send it to the office it belongs to, you know the drill. Chose whomever of the chunnin that you want."

"Yes sir." Kotetsu and Izumo nodded, and all three disappeared from the room.

Harry stretched. "We finally have elbowroom here." He commented. "All those from the Inuzuka and Aburame Clans in the room, here's what I want you to do: gather some of the best people in your clans, and start patrolling the forest as far as two miles from the walls, but no further."

The room emptied slowly as the green-eyed man continued giving out orders, and order and organisation soon became evident again. It wasn't long before all the chunnin and some of the lower ranked jounnin were put into work, and Harry asked for all the higher ranked jounnin and ANBU present to go up to the first floor and gather in the meeting room there.

"And if anyone tries to make a fuss about it all, send them to me and I'll make sure that a potted plant connects with their head as well." The ANBU Squad Commander commented, and earned a couple of smirks and chuckles before the group of people in question disappeared. Harry stretched one more time, yawned, rubbed the itching skin where his wounds had been, then headed outside to deal with the gathered gennin and Academy students. He had also decided that he needed some serious fresh air before he tackled the first and second floors of the Hokage Tower.

As soon as the green-eyed man exited the Hokage Tower, the gathered gennin jumped into neat lines and stood to attention. The Academy students copied them, but they didn't do it quite as gracefully and quickly as the gennin did. Nor could they seem to keep their eyes away from the figure of the ANBU Squad Commander, a person who usually didn't enter their daily lives at all at this point in their shinobi career. However, the gennin seemed to have some trouble with this as well, so it didn't really matter.

Harry sized the two widely different groups up and down, and walked between them. He noted where the ranks were thin, where a person was missing, and which people were wounded, then he stopped right in front of them, and started talking. "I'm giving you all a mission. For some of you-" here he nodded towards the Academy students, "-this will be your first mission ever, therefore I'm placing you under the command of the gennin. I leave it up to your teacher, Suzume-san, to divide you into teams of three and assign you to a gennin team-leader."

"What are we to do, ANBU-sama?" a gennin asked, his bowl-cut and large eyebrows making him look almost like a complete replica of Maito Gai.

Harry couldn't help but twitch. _'Great Scott, there's another one of them! Manji, I'm going to kill you once all of this has calmed. It's your fault that Maito Gai ended up as he did, and now the Green Beast of Konoha has corrupted another innocent soul. The evil circle you started shall never be broken!'_

A girl in a Chinese-styled outfit and with her hair in buns, bopped the Gai look-alike. "Lee, what are you doing here! You're supposed to be in the hospital still!"

The youth, Lee, looked very uncomfortable at this point, and tried to hide his crutch behind his back. It didn't help that he was dressed in the usual hospital clothes, nor did it help that one of his legs was wrapped from top to bottom in bandages. The guy could hardly move, let alone do any work.

"I'm putting you gennin in charge of cataloguing all the material damages in Konoha," the green-eyed man said and tried to ignore the scene. "Each team will get a part of the village to go through, and you are to write up everything you find, from missing walls to broken windows to crushed flowerbeds, the works. Comb through the city and be very careful, there might still be enemies hiding in the more abandoned outskirts of town. Once you have written down everything, come back here and find me, then I'll set you off again to get the required material to repair the damages."

"Where is each team to go?" a girl with blonde hair and pale blue eyes asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you're going north. Hyuuga Neji to the north-east. Yamanaka Ino to the east sector of the village. Hyuuga Hinata to the south-east, Uchiha Sasuke to the south, Inuzuka Kiba to the south-west, Aburame Shino to the west, and Haruno Sakura to the north-west. Watase Tenten, you shall take the centre of the village, and you will have the help of Akimichi Choji. Organise yourselves, and get going."

There was some chaos for a moment whilst the gennin got their little helpers from the Academy, but then everyone set off to their designated areas, and the street was empty again except for Harry, a disappointed Rock Lee and Nara Shikamaru.

"You kept me back for a reason." The lazy but smart gennin stated.

"Of course. I'm temporarily giving you the rank of a tokubetsu chunnin, you can get your green vest in the Equipment Office down the street. You are to visit the villages closest to Konoha and check up on their damages. Start in the village directly north of there, after that you move in a clockwise direction. Get going."

"So troublesome." The boy sighed, but moved off at a lazy walk.

"Suzume-san, please go inside and help with the distribution of the classified missions."

"Hai!" the woman hurried inside.

The remaining gennin looked up at the ANBU. "And what am I to do, ANBU-sama?"

"You're hurt." It was an unnecessary statement.

"But I can still do something!" Rock Lee protested. "I can't just sit still while everyone else are doing something productive! The Fires of Youth are burning in me too brightly! Please give me something to do as well!" at this point the boy bowed deeply.

'_I'm taking a vacation once all of this is over.' _Harry sighed, and rubbed his temples. He hadn't been doing this for no more than an hour, and already a terrible headache was building up. "Alright, fine, just stop quoting Maito Gai! If you can get to the mission office without trouble and without bringing further injury to yourself, then you'll be one of the people who hand out the pay for completed missions."

Lee was clearly disappointed that he couldn't have gone out with the rest of the gennin, but nodded nonetheless and his eyes were practically burning with determination. "Yes sir!"

The green-eyed man pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "You're to report to Umino Iruka. Straight in, across the room, and the office at the back. You know the way."

"Yes sir!" the boy saluted rather comically. "It shall be done at once! The Fires of Youth shall not disappoint you!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever, just get out of my sight." Harry shooed the boy off, and watched him hobble away. He then looked up to the windows of the first floor of the Hokage Tower, and nearly whimpered at the thought of what might be waiting for him behind those panes of glass. The sounds from that part of the building hadn't seemed to decrease at all; in fact they had seemed to increase to insane heights, especially after he sent the remaining jounnin and ANBU up there. Nonetheless he quickly scaled the wall of the Tower, and was about to enter through an open window when he was forced to duck out of the way of a hail of shuriken, senbon and kunai.

"What the hell is going on in here!" he roared once he managed to get inside.

The people inside the room quickly got out of the way, and revealed the commotion. In the middle of the room were four combatants, three of them ANBU and one jounnin. And it was more than clear that they had been at each others throats a second ago.

"Well? Is anyone going to answer me anytime soon?"

"Ookami-sama," Kakashi stepped out from the crowd. "We came up here as per your orders, but then these individuals here tried to start a mutiny, to put it bluntly. Some of us just couldn't stand to hear the only person who's done something about the entire situation, badmouthed, so we told them what we thought of it all; thus the little argument breaking out."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "Really?"

"Yes sir."

The ANBU Squad Commander turned his gaze towards the four in the middle, and his eyebrow shot up when he noticed that the two that were defending him were none other than Manji and Itachi. It must have been something serious to get those two into such a fuss. He shook himself out of his thoughts, focused on the other two people, and sighed. "Tora-san, Yuu-san, you two have never been very fond of me, I know that and respect it, but couldn't you have found a better time than now to make trouble for everyone?"

The ANBU – whose mask depicted a tiger – snorted. "I will never follow the orders of a traitor and snake-spawn like you. You don't deserve your title."

"And you do?" Harry asked without batting an eyelash. The other man had been itching to ruin his life ever since Harry allegedly stole the title of ANBU Squad Commander right under his nose.

"He deserves it much more than you do!" the jounnin, Yuu, spoke up and her eyes flashed dangerously. She had hated Harry with all her heart from the very beginning. Orochimaru had once kidnapped her child and conducted DNA-experiments on the kid – along with 59 other children – and the boy hadn't survived.

Yuu now turned to one specific ANBU. "You should hate him as well, Yamato! Orochimaru did the same to you as he did to my child, but you were the only one who survived! How _can_ you not hate this snake-spawn!"

"By remembering that Ookami-sama isn't Orochimaru." Came the simple reply.

Harry sighed. "Listen you two, I really don't have the patience to deal with you right now, so will you please lay off it and help me get Konoha on the track again, or do I have to sacrifice another couple of innocent houseplants?"

Several of the jounnin present smirked at that, and some of the ANBU snorted.

Yuu glared hatefully at the green-eyed man. "This isn't over, snake-spawn!" she growled but retreated to the other side of the room. She knew better than to challenge someone of higher rank – especially since Konoha was in such a bad shape. She could easily get demoted to civilian status if she continued; Harry had full right to do that. The rules that usually governed Konoha changed slightly when there was a crisis around. And since Harry was the highest point of authority at the moment, it meant that he was the one with the power. Besides, she surmised that her revenge could wait until after the village was back on its feet.

Tora the ANBU, however, had no intention of giving in. "I told you already, I won't take orders from a traitor."

"You will take orders from _this_ traitor. And that's **Mr** Traitor to you." Harry said, and this sent another round of smirks throughout the gathered audience. "Now, we need to-"

"Didn't you hear me, little snake? I will not listen to anything you say." Tora cut him off. "In fact I still don't understand why you became Squad Commander instead of me. I am much more qualified than you since I'm not a traitor."

"At least I have some leadership skills," Harry deadpanned. After years of getting annoyed and bothered by Tora he had finally had enough, and now he was aiming to get rid of the other ANBU – hopefully forever, or at least for a very long time.

"Excuse me? What did you say?"

"I just stated the fact that you can't lead a line to a drowning man."

"Is this a challenge?" Tora demanded, his hands twitching towards his weapons.

Harry simply blinked. "Are you challenging me?"

"I asked you, you fucking bastard! Answer me, or I'll-!"

"He challenging me, isn't he?" the green-eyed man looked over to Kakashi.

Tora threw a shuriken which they easily avoided. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Kakashi nodded. "He's challenging you." The silver-haired man confirmed needlessly.

"Good, I just wanted to check." Harry then focused back on Tora. "Since you challenged someone of higher rank than you, and in a time of crisis as well, I now have the right to do as I wish with you."

"What!"

"Because of your lack of judgement and leadership skills, I hereby demote you to middle jounin level."

The other ANBU gaped. "You can't do that!"

"Lower jounnin level."

"You-"

"Chunnin level. Any more from you and I'm putting you back in the Academy." Harry smirked in triumph, and held out a hand. "Your ANBU-mask, please."

The people gathered watched this with great interest. It wasn't everyday that someone was demoted this harshly, but they all had to admit that Tora was one of the worst leaders they had ever encountered. The missions under his lead usually ended in heavy wounds for his companions and himself, and statistically Tora was the worst shinobi at both ANBU and jounnin ranks in Konoha, and that took some serious doing!

Tora simply stood there in surprise. "You can't do that!" he repeated.

"I can, I will and I have. Your mask, please."

"Ookami-sama is correct," Itachi spoke up, and didn't even try to hide the rather smug tone in his voice. "The rules and laws state that if the Hokage is gone for whatever reason, then it's the ANBU Squad Commanders who are to govern the village. And as you know, one of the three commanders has retired, and the other is in a coma. This means that Ookami-sama is the acting Hokage until we can find a new one. Do I have to spell it out further to you?"

Manji couldn't resist adding his own comment. "You slept through the Academy-class that went over all of this, didn't you?"

"Don't make me repeat myself." Harry's eyes flashed.

Tora – who would no longer be known as that since he was no longer an ANBU – growled hatefully and ripped of his mask, then threw it on the floor so hard that it broke. "You'll regret this, traitor." The man growled and stalked out of the room.

Kakashi sighed. "We need to watch out for him," he whispered quietly so that only Harry could hear. "I recently discovered that he was once a part of Root."

Harry nodded in understanding. "I take it that Danzo and his little protégé Sai have been on the move again?"

Itachi snorted. "That's putting it mildly. We caught Sai red-handed as he was about to break into the classified ANBU files, but we couldn't do much about it since one: it was chaos enough around here already, and two: Danzo is – as we all know – one of the Elders."

"Unfortunately." The Hyuuga added. "Danzo's also been speaking about trying for the Hokage position again since Sarutobi-sama is dead. Fortunately that won't work. The Council of Clan Heads and the other Elders are deliberating about asking Jiraiya-sama to take the post."

"Where is the old pervert anyway?" Harry asked.

"Second floor, in the Hokage's office." Itachi replied. "He's been trying to deal with some of the local lords, and has also been keeping his eye on the Akatsuki and the other countries that may be a threat to us."

The green-eyed man nodded. "I'll talk with him as soon as I get you guys organised. Right, back to work I suppose." He turned back to the other ANBU and jounnin gathered in the room. "Alright, this is what I want you to do. I want eight four-man teams of jounnin to be formed and ready to leave in an hour. You'll start guard duty on the outer perimeters of Fire Country, starting two miles from the walls of Konoha and out. The Inuzuka and Aburame clans are dealing with anything closer, so be sure to check in with them to see if they've come up with something."

An assortment of jounnin voiced their agreement, and disappeared through the various exits available – windows and doors alike – to get ready.

"Yuuhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma, I'm sending you out to check up on the Konoha prison. It's rather isolated from the village, and who knows what might have happened during the attack. The remaining jounnin and a great deal of the ANBU will be sent out on missions ranking from C-class to S-class. It will be very hectic for you, but no matter what we need to keep up the pretence that Konoha is as strong as ever. However, be careful not to overdo it; if we pretend too much, then it'll be a clear indication that there _is_ something wrong. Now, every ANBU that stands with his or her body touching the wall in one way or another is to stay, the rest of you can trample back down to the mission office and start bugging them."

There were a couple of spread chuckles as people started moving, and when the commotion was done Harry was left with approximately twenty ANBU and one jounnin – that one being Kakashi.

"Those of you remaining here are the lucky bastards who get to be stuck in hell with me for the foreseeable future. There should be at least one person from each division here – from the Seduction Corps to the Hunter Corps to the Healer Corps, etc. – so you better get to your designated offices and start dealing with the paperwork."

People groaned at this, and they started grumbling and complaining about their rotten luck, but none of them protested too much. They slowly started dispersing and catching up their comrades from the various divisions, and started discussing how to start organising it all since they were all going to be short on people for a long time to come.

"Dammit. I knew I should've left when I had the chance." Manji muttered with a pout whilst Itachi and Kakashi simply nodded in agreement.

"Why did you three stay behind anyway?" Harry asked as he headed towards the second floor.

The three followed him.

"Well, since you're going to be the acting Hokage until a new one can be found you're going to need bodyguards," Itachi said this in a tone which indicated that it should've been obvious. "Hence the presence of myself and Manji. Kakashi is going to be your personal slave."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm going to be your secretary," Kakashi corrected.

The ANBU Squad Commander blinked. "But you hate paperwork, Kakashi."

The silver-haired jounnin nodded. "Yes, I know."

Green eyes stared at the three for a moment, then he shrugged and gave up. "Do as you wish."

"So, what's next on the agenda?" Manji wondered.

"A talk with the resident super-pervert, and then we'll take one day at the time." Came the reply from Harry as they strode down the corridor towards the doors of the Hokage's personal office. "Better buckle up, people, cause this is going to be one exhausting ride."

-x-x-x-x-

There, please tell me what you think.

Right, now that I've started college it's going to be rather hectic, so the updates will be somewhat far between. Please be patient with me in the future.

I'm glad that you liked the interaction between Gaara and Ginny in the last chapter. As someone commented Ginny was a rather shallow character, but since she really isn't one of my favourites I guess it could be attributed to that.

Thanks to:

firewolfalpha, HolyKnight5, Wolven Spirits, Beta the Second, NamelessHeretic, Meemei, polabear, Anave Lipad, Xurtan, BasicallyAnIdiot, kwangmablade, Curlz-Shadow Kitsune, angelsdawn1004, Lord Myst, Morrolan, Shinobi's Fire, rob, Adnexus, Senyor Fier Mensheir, dark672, Honebar, simpleinsanity, Sk8er7, Regress13, candidus-lupus-full Moon, zimagesto, LanHikari2000x, Z-AKA Andrea-, Sumarra, firmin, A Shadow of Deus, 2stupid, FireAngel8723, Chibi of Many Names, hittocerebattosai, Ying-Fa, Hayles, kirallie, Oldmagic, and azillia.


	27. Chapter 27

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Most glaringly obivious mistakes have been fixed. Enjoy!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Twenty-Seven:**

When someone said that a person was working on something – whether it was the model of a ship, or desperately trying to keep a secret village full of ninja from falling apart – you expected said person to actually be doing his or her task. That's exactly what Harry, Manji, Itachi and Kakashi expected of Jiraiya when they entered the Hokage's office. They expected to see the sannin sitting at the large desk, signing papers, or perhaps even thinking up a suitable reply to an annoying local lord.

Instead they found the sannin in question standing by one of the large windows, binoculars in hand, and drooling heavily at whatever it was that he was seeing – which pretty much ruled out the possibility of Jiraiya having spotted an invading force of hostile ninja, unless the attackers were scantily clad or outright naked women, but that was doubtful. It didn't help that the binoculars were pointed in the direction of the public baths, and everyone present knew that the house which had previously blocked said baths form view from the Hokage tower, had been crushed to rubble.

Therefore only one conclusion could be made: Jiraiya was acting up on his perverted tendencies again.

"Oh yeah!" the old pervert whispered happily with a grin growing on his face, either ignoring or not noticing the four arrivals. "Drop that towel!"

For some _strange_ reason Harry's headache suddenly jumped to previously-unknown heights. "Jiraiya-san, I thought you were supposed to be doing some work."

"I am working." Came the reply.

"Work that would be beneficial to Konoha." Itachi clarified dryly.

"He is!" Kakashi protested. "He's gathering data for his books which have saved many a shinobi from fearful attacks of boredom."

Harry's eyebrow twitched. "Jiraiya-san, please put yourself together."

The man in question sighed but turned away from the window, and put away his binoculars. "I did do the required work, but when I heard the lack of commotion downstairs I knew that you had arrived, Harry, and that I needn't worry anymore. I knew that everything would be in good hands."

"In other words you finally gave in to the desire to ogle at bathing women." Manji spoke up, one eyebrow rising behind his mask.

"Well, yes, that as well, and boy what a wonderful view!"

"You know," the Hyuuga quietly commented to the Uchiha, "I suddenly understand why we had such chaos around here before Harry arrived."

The green-eyed man groaned. "Exactly what did you manage to get done before I arrived?"

Jiraiya suddenly turned serious. "The local lords were panicking and demanding extra protection, so I sent off some low-level chunnin and a couple of the older gennin-teams to appease them, it should hold for a while at least. The full list is on the desk. My contacts have also told me that Stone has been very interested in what's been happening in Konoha lately, but I doubt they will dare to risk another war. The odd missing-nin from Stone might try something, but otherwise we're pretty safe from that quarter."

Itachi nodded. "They would've lost the war if it weren't for the peace treaty, and I agree with Jiraiya-sama; they won't risk another war."

"We still need to keep an eye on them though." Kakashi pointed out.

"I've got my contacts on it already," the sannin replied. "As for matters more close to home, I've already been approached to take up the position as the Godaime Hokage, but I declined."

"You couldn't have made it a bit easier for us and simply accepted, could you?" Harry demanded as he tiredly sunk down in the closest chair.

"I'm not the one you want for that job," Jiraiya said. "And I would never have had the time to write my novels or conduct my research!"

"Kami forbid!" Kakashi looked very happy that Jiraiya hadn't accepted the position.

Everyone ignored the Copy-nin after sending him a droll look.

The Frog Sannin continued, an apologetic twitch to his lips. "I am sorry, but that's the way it is. However, I do know the perfect person to take over as Hokage – if I can convince her into it that is."

"Tsunade-san?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"She's the granddaughter of a Hokage and she's a renown sannin, you can't get better recommendations than that!"

"She's also terrified by the sight of blood, and reports say that she hates Konoha," the ANBU Squad Commander pointed out.

Jiraiya simply smiled. "Trust me on this, she'll come. If she doesn't then the Council and the Elders will simply choose you, Harry."

"Me?"

"Of course; because of your status you're automatically in the race, especially since the other two Squad Commanders are out of the game. However, you're only the last option, the backup. The Elders have second thoughts because of your connection to Orochimaru and the way the public would react to that, and also they worry about your spying."

Harry sighed again. "Right, I'm more or less out of the picture then. Well, what are you still doing here, Jiraiya-san? I thought you were tasked with finding us a new Hokage?"

The sannin would have answered to that comment, if it hadn't been for the doors to suddenly burst open and an angry Naruto stalking into the room. The three academy students that were assigned to him following in his heels, and they looked very angry as well.

"What's going on, Uzumaki?" Harry demanded as he stood up. He had slipped into his commanding mode again, and he could see that Naruto clearly hadn't expected such a cold and formal greeting. He also realised that he had somewhat ignored the boy when he had been handing out missions to the gennin, however, he didn't have the time to ponder on the probably-stung feelings of the gennin, and continued: "Why aren't you doing your assigned duty?"

"We were… hindered in doing our duty… _sir_," Naruto said, clearly having trouble keeping things formal.

"Hindered? Explain, Uzumaki."

Naruto was very uncomfortable. "They… the civilians-"

"The civilians called him monster." One of the academy students spoke up suddenly.

"They threw food after us, and whatever else they could get their hands on, too." Another one spoke up.

"They refused to tell us anything at all. Sir," the third added the last part somewhat hesitantly.

'_I should have foreseen this. The villagers' nerves are frayed enough as it is, they won't suffer Naruto to walk around, he'll become the scapegoat for all their anger and fright. Damn. The best would be if Naruto left the village for a week or two, but teams have been sent to all the local lords.'_ Harry thought to himself, then he suddenly got an idea as his eyes slid over the room and landed on the back of a perverted sannin who had brought out his binoculars again. _'During our run, I distinctly remember Yamato mentioning something about Jiraiya teaching Naruto how to summon frogs…'_

"Do you want us to have a _chat_ with the villagers in question?" Itachi asked almost innocently.

Harry shook his head. "That won't be necessary, I'm sending Uzumaki Naruto out of the village for a week or two until everything calms down."

"What?" everyone in the room asked.

"And since Jiraiya-san started teaching him during the Chunnin Exams, I'm sending Uzumaki with him on his mission. Thusly Uzumaki gets a chance to learn something new, and someone will be there to keep Jiraiya-san from forgetting his mission and simply go from one brothel to another."

"WHAT!" the Toad Sannin roared in tandem with Naruto himself.

"You're sending me away!" Naruto demanded. "With that pervert of all people!"

"You're sending him away with me!" Jiraiya gestured wildly with his arms, then he suddenly stopped. "Actually, I don't mind! Not at all! It could come in very handy, especially for my research. **Sexy no Justsu**, hehehehee!"

"Yes to all questions." Harry said absently, he had already picked up a piece of paper from the desk and was now skimming through it. "And please behave like a man with a normal libido, Jiraiya-san. Uzumaki-san, please listen to your elder – unless he tells you to do something perverted, in which case I give you full permission to hit him over the head with a sake bottle. Jiraiya-san will fill you in on the specifics of your mission later on, Uzumaki. Get going you two, you have no time to lose."

"Alright, alright," Jiraiya grumbled, then turned to the shocked Naruto. "Oi, brat, meet me at the eastern gates – or what's left of them – in half an hour. And pack for approximately two weeks." Then he disappeared.

Naruto simply stood there for a minute, looking between the doors and Harry – who seemed to be fully into the various papers that laid on the desk, while handing the finished papers over to Kakashi. Manji and Itachi seemed to be equally busy, and were skimming through papers themselves, then handing them to Harry if it was needed, or sent them off for the correct department to deal with by carrier pigeons. All of them were ignoring Naruto. There was a weird look that entered the demon-container's eyes, it was a look of hurt and even slight betrayal. Silently the boy saluted then exited the office, closing the doors quietly after himself.

The three academy students simply stood off in a corner, clearly uncomfortable and not knowing how to act around such high-profile personnel.

Harry looked up as soon as the doors clicked shut, and put down the paper he was holding. "I don't think Naruto's too happy with me right now."

"I wouldn't be too happy with you either," Manji commented. "Kakashi, this paper's supposed to go to the Hunter-nin." He added and put the document in question in Kakashi's already-enormous pile.

"What am I, your slave?" the Copy-nin muttered and tried to get a better hold.

"Yes." Itachi replied without looking up. "Here, another to the Hunter-nin department."

Kakashi sighed, then looked hopefully at the papers still on the desk. "Are you sure that there are no documents that are supposed to go to the Seduction-nin?"

"Please stop acting like an idiot, Kakashi," Harry said with a sigh. "I'm surrounded by enough of those already."

"I resent that!" Manji protested.

"I wasn't talking about you, but thank you for volunteering for the position."

The man blinked. "I was just tricked by Ookami, wasn't I?" he asked Itachi.

"Nope, there was no need for him to trick you," the Uchiha replied dryly. "You managed that fine by yourself."

The green-eyed man focused on Itachi. "Please go and alert Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Neji that they will have to divide Uzumaki's sector of the village between themselves. Give two of the present academy students to the one who seems to need most help."

Itachi bowed quickly. "Hai, Ookami-sama." Then he focused on the three children. "Please follow me," he said and exited. The three did a clumsy bow before they followed the Uchiha out of the office.

Harry sighed and rubbed his temple. "I hate politics, I really do."

The other two simply nodded in agreement.

-x-x-x-x-

Harry had been sitting in the office for approximately an hour. The paperwork that surrounded him never seemed to end, new documents coming in all the time. There were panicked letters from local lords and civilians, there were notes from the villages close to Konoha demanding to know what exactly had happened and why, there were accounts after accounts with long rows of numbers proclaiming just how much the carpenters wanted paid in order to perform one task or another. In short: there were hundreds of things that needed attention, and there was only one Harry to do it. Of course, Manji and Itachi and Kakashi helped out as much as they could, but all three were usually busy running to and fro with messages to various people, and there were some things specifically marked Hokage-eyes-only – in this case that being Harry seeing as he was the acting Hokage.

Either way, all four of them were happy for the break the opening of the office-doors presented, though their mood plummeted again when they saw exactly who had entered the office.

Uchiha Fugaku stood there in all his growling and snarling glory.

"May I help you, Uchiha-san?" Harry asked politely.

The look that the ANBU Squad Commander received for his harmless question, could have melted steel, soured milk, and killed a man in a hundred gruesome ways all in one.

"Do not take that tone with me!" Fugaku spat. "Come Itachi, we're going home. I do not want you near this man that has caused such tragedy for our clan."

"Tragedy?" the green-eyed man parroted, and sent a quick look towards the younger Uchiha.

"Orochimaru bit Shisui and gave him the Seal," Itachi replied with a sigh, then turned to his father. "I am not going anywhere, otou-san."

"I am your father and I am the Head of the Uchiha Clan. You _will_ obey me, Itachi!"

"Not this time, otou-san. I promised to protect the acting Hokage until a real one can be found, and I'm going to keep that promise. Besides, it wasn't Harry-sensei's fault for what happened. We have all known that Orochimaru has long desired the Sharingan, and if it hadn't been for Harry's warning before he left, then the Snake Sannin might have bitten more than one person."

Fugaku's countenance turned even more hateful and angry. "You choose a treacherous bastard of a snake spawn over your own clan!"

Itachi sighed. "I try to take no sides, but in this situation it seems that I cannot remain neutral."

"Watch your words, boy, or I'll have you banned from the clan in dishonour."

"If you do then be prepared that I'm not going to be the only one leaving." Itachi replied. "The younger generations of the clan will follow me, you know this. The _mighty_ Uchiha Clan will be cut down by more than half if you ban me."

"Do you really care so little for your cousin?" Fugaku switched tactics, and everyone in the room knew at once that he had gone too far. It was a known fact that Itachi and Shisui were like best friends, and Itachi was probably blaming himself for Shisui's misfortune right now. Fugaku really had dug his own grave this time.

Itachi stood up from the chair he had been sitting in, his unmasked face cold and expressionless, his eyes not giving anything away except for the fact that they turned red like blood signalling that the infamous Sharingan had been activated. The young ANBU Captain picked up his weasel-shaped mask. "Ookami-sama, I request permission to take the rest of the day off. A personal matter has come to my attention."

"Of course," the other man agreed at once. "Take as long as you need."

Itachi didn't say anything else, but simply grabbed a hold of his father and stalked out of the room, closing the doors behind himself. This clash of wills had been long in coming, ever since it was clear that whilst Uchiha Fugaku hated Harry with a passion his two sons seemed to love him more than their own father. Most of the older generation of the Uchiha Clan were on Fugaku's side in the conflict, these were the people that hated change and that despised any and all foreigners, the die-hard traditionalists. The younger generations were on Itachi's side, all agreeing that the Uchiha Clan needed to change to keep up with the rest of the village, and generally saying the opposite of the elders. The conflict had been carefully monitored by the ANBU, and now – it seemed – the long-awaited clash would happen.

There was a tense silence in the room between the three people left behind.

"This will, quite probably, tear the Uchiha Clan apart." Kakashi stated, his gaze still fixed on the doors.

Manji nodded. "I hope it doesn't evolve into a civil war, that'd be the last thing we needed right now."

"What I want to know is why none of you told me that Shisui had been bitten." Harry said, raising an eyebrow as he watched the other two.

"We found no time for it," Manji replied honestly. "First there was all the panic and chaos, then we had that argument, then we were busy trying to organise everything, and then we were buried up 'til our necks in paperwork. And all this in only an hour or so!"

The ANBU Squad Commander sighed. "Where is Shisui at the moment? What's his condition?"

"He's still unconscious in the hospital," Kakashi said. "I put my own Seal over that, but it isn't foolproof as you know."

"I'll visit him later today and see if I can't help," Harry decided. "If I can add even one more person to help me against Orochimaru when the time comes, then it won't be for naught."

"I wish you would tell us of this technique you use to control and change Orochimaru's Seal," Manji grumbled. "Perhaps one of us could have performed it while you were gone."

"You couldn't have."

"And why not?"

"You don't have Basilisk venom in your veins." Was the simple reply.

The Hyuuga blinked and exchanged a look with Kakashi. "What is Basilisk venom? And why do you have it?"

Harry neglected to reply.

-x-x-x-x-

A few days passed before Harry managed to find enough time to visit Shisui in the hospital. By that time Shisui was already awake, and the two of them held a long conversation which no one else had been privy to. And no matter how much they wheedled for information, neither of the two revealed anything. However, a noticeable fact was that Shisui did not end up with the Seal that could control Orochimaru's own, and Harry's explanation for this was that they had waited for too long to perform the technique. Many were slightly worried and suspicious in the beginning, but when Shisui returned to his shinobi duties a few days later, seemingly fit as a fiddle, people simply shrugged it off and concentrated on the rebuilding of the village.

The rebuilding of the material damages went very well, and they soon had things under control. Those people who had lost their homes during the attacks were quickly given quarters with friends, or in some of the government-owned buildings usually reserved for young shinobi. The death toll counts for both civilians and shinobi were made, done as accurate as possible, and letters were sent to the victims' families – if there was any. Konoha was like a busy beehive at the moment, and the shinobi barely had time to come back from one mission before being sent out on another in an attempt to make everything seem normal. Shikamaru returned from his mission with a thorough report of what had happened in the villages close to Konoha, and teams and materials had been dispatched to help said villages fix the damages; and the local lords stopped harping for at least a while. The most happy news, however, were when Jiraiya sent a message through his rarely-used communication medallion that he had successfully tracked down Tsunade and was now busy trying to convince her to come back, and in reply Harry had demanded that he hurry the hell up with it.

Throughout all of these happenings the Uchiha Clan struggled with their own internal conflict. Although there was no real violence, there were several heated arguments between the younger and the elder generations, and it was soon clear that a large rift had grown between the two groups. The younger generations started to abandon the Uchiha part of the city, and followed Itachi's lead and got themselves apartments owned by the administration or simply bought new homes at the other part of the village in order to be free from the elder generations' iron rule. It all came to a standstill one day, a week and a half after it had started, when Uchiha Fugaku made a public statement. The Uchiha Clan was now officially consisting of two separate groups: the _Uchiha_ (which would be the name of the younger, rebelling generations), and the _Uchiwa_ (which where the older generations). The older generations had chosen to call themselves that because it was an older form of 'Uchiha', and they wanted to keep with the traditions.

It was a shock to the village when this was announced, and several other clans – most notably the Hyuugas – started to carefully look at their own structure to make sure that the same would not happen with them. However, there was nothing to be done with the situation, and no matter how much the Elders or the Council of Clan Heads begged, pleaded and threatened, there was no reconciliation between the two fractions, and Itachi was soon named the Head for the new Uchiha Clan whilst Fugaku remained as the leader of the newly-named Uchiwas. What pissed Fugaku off to no end though, was that Sasuke chose his big brother's side of the conflict; and also that Fugaku's own wife, Mikoto, would still keep in contact with the two boys whom Fugaku himself now considered to be total strangers. In short, there were a couple of very tense weeks following this change, and the ANBU kept a careful eye on it all, ready to step in if need be.

After a week of dealing with endless paperwork and annoying people who always asked about things they already knew the answer to, Harry barely knew what was up and what was down, or left from right. He was tired, he barely had the time to eat, and he was desperately trying to keep himself from going on a rampage and killing everybody simply to get rid of all the headaches he had been suffering lately because of said people.

There had been no more messages from Jiraiya after that first one, but the green-eyed, overworked ANBU Squad Commander simply didn't have the time to spare it much thought. He was called from meeting to meeting. The merchants wanted one thing, the carpenters wanted something else, and the stonemasons demanded something completely different. They seemed to think that just because he was new to the job that they could trick him into agreeing to some of the most ridiculous ideas ever presented, and Harry felt like a substitute teacher that the students delighted in testing at every turn.

And if that wasn't all, then he received a message from a certain Mr Colin Creevy, the owner of the most successful newspaper on the Shinobi Continent – the Fire Country News. Said message consisted of a request for an interview so that people understood what had happened during the attack, and exactly where Konoha stood at the moment. Harry was sorely tempted to simply tell the younger man to go to hell, but he knew he couldn't. This article, if done correctly, would show people that Konohagakure wasn't out of the race, and that the village was just as strong as it had ever been. This would make more customers come their way, which in turn meant that they would have more money to pay for the restoration work and other expenses. So Harry consented to the interview – albeit very hesitantly – and exactly three weeks after he had taken over the control of Konoha, Colin Creevy showed up at the gates, all happy smiles and really making Harry want to punch his freaking lights out.

In the past three weeks, as previously mentioned, Harry really hadn't gotten much sleep or food or drink, and the effects were starting to show. Without enough nutrition and rest, his body couldn't produce enough chakra to heal up the wounds that he had gotten during his fight with Sasori and Deidara, and the wounds had started itching and aching – which were never good signs. But he ignored it and didn't tell anyone, though Manji and Kakashi (and also Itachi when he returned to duty) suspected something.

"Manji, Itachi, if I ever had any inclination to do a take-over of a Hidden Village – or any village at all – then this experience has really put any such thoughts out of my mind." Harry commented as he tiredly signed yet another sheet of paper. "I mean, I thought I had much work to do as an ANBU Squad Commander, but this is just insane."

The two men nodded and sighed.

"I know what you mean," Itachi said. "As the leader I need to organise my new clan, and it's a heck of a lot more work that I ever thought."

"I just want some sleep." Manji groaned and yawned. "When the new Hokage arrives I'm demanding a great deal of time off."

"You're not the only one." The green-eyed man replied. "Yes?" he said in response to the knock on the large doors.

"Ookami-sama," Kakashi's voice came from the doorway, and a second later the man himself stepped through. "Creevy-san is here."

The three men hurriedly put on their ANBU masks, and Harry sighed. "Send him in, Kakashi. Better get this torture over with."

Colin Creevy hadn't changed much during the years, he was just a more older-looking version of his younger self. He still had the hyperactivity, and the camera was still hanging around his neck. "Good day to you all. Creevy Colin, your friendly neighbourhood journalist, at your service!"

The three ANBU didn't even twitch in their seats, though they did fix the man with heavy gazes that clearly said that they really didn't want him there at the moment.

"Right then!" Creevy continued and cleared his throat nervously. "I assume you are Ookami-san?"

'_Whatever gave you that idea? Is it because I'm the only one sitting behind a desk, or what?'_ Harry wanted to say, instead he simply nodded. "Sit down, Creevy-san."

"Thank you, thank you!" Colin Creevy hade himself at home in his chair. "Now, this will not be a long interview, I know you do not have the time for that-"

'_Actually, we don't really have the time for a short interview either.'_ Harry thought sarcastically.

"- So all I'm going to be asking you simply about what happened, and if you have any ideas as to why. A few pictures here and there, and I'll be back on my way and out of your hair. Now, first things first, what happened?"

Harry gave an absentminded, quick and toned-down run-through of what had happened, while he also kept a lot of his attention on the documents in front of him. Creevy was seemingly used to interviewing very busy people, and didn't seem offended by the fact that his subject wasn't even looking at him whilst talking. Either that, or he wasn't comfortable with the ANBU masks. His next question, of course, was if they had any idea why such a thing had happened. He received an equally short answer to this, only some information being given, though he didn't protest to this either.

"Now I need just a couple of pictures, and preferably one of you, Ookami-san. The other pictures I can take on my own as I walk through the village." Colin held up his camera and smiled again.

He was just about to take said picture, when Uchiha Sasuke came running into the room, and did a hasty salute. "Ookami-sama, I come straight from the hospital." The boy panted out.

"What's wrong?" Harry demanded at once.

"It's Usagi-sama!" the gennin said. "He's dead!"

"WHAT!" the green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander jumped up from his chair. What with Uma-san having quit the shinobi profession all together, and having performed a special mind-wiping technique on herself to keep from telling any secrets if she was ever caught, Harry had harboured a small hope that at his remaining companion in rank, Usagi-san, would have pulled through his wounds and come to help him with all the work. But the man hadn't pulled through, and now Harry was the only ANBU Squad Commander that Konoha had. And to find new people to take over the roles of Usagi-san and Uma-san was going to be such trouble and hustle and annoyance, that Harry had put it off as much as he could. He had wanted the opinions of his fellow ANBU Squad Commander during the selections, but this was no longer possible, and everything now rested on Harry's already loaded shoulders.

Murphy's Law had just kicked in again: anything that could go wrong, had gone wrong, and Harry found himself wishing – not for the first time – that it was all just one great nightmare, and that he would wake from it any moment.

'_Orochimaru really is going to get it when the time comes.'_

-x-x-x-x-

There, what do you think? Please review!

I know that I glossed slightly over when it comes to the situation with the Uchiha Clan, but I really didn't want to get into that as well. It would take too much space, and it is rather uninteresting in my opinion. I'll most likely mention it again later on, with more details and all, but for now this is what you get. Sorry.

Don't worry, the houseplants are alright. It took a couple of days in intensive care, but they will make it!

Tsunade will finally show up in the next chapter! Slug Sannin against Harry! Wohooo, it's going to be fun!

Thanks to:

BasicallyAnIdiot, TanyaPotter, Jesp-R, NamelessHeretic, stickzx, peppymint, azilla, HolyKnight5, Ol' Ollie, Yami no Hikari-Chan, Adnexus, Minks N More, Alucard29, Janniyah, Beta the Second, magerm, dark672, Crimson Dragongem, TheWiseSirIvanTheShadowLord, FireAngel8723, EsperJones, nantukoprime, Oldmagic, Curlz-Shadow Kitsune, Meemei, simpleinsanity, Lord Myst, The Insane Imortal Dragon, gaul1, VB, Shinobi's Fire, sadfru, Gasanechi, 399, Senyor Fier Mensheir, polabear, Knives, muto shizuka, Anave Lipad, Sumarra, 2stupid, Morrolan, hittocerebattosai, firmin, Lonelyreverence, Tombadgerlock, Wolven Spirits, Amari Koorime, Regress13, Chibi of Many Names, sunao, H.E. Gray, Rococophile, AceZ-Shadow, I-Y-T-Y, Echizen Ryoma, Baka Shinobi, magicgirl45852, zi ma gesto, Kingdark, and Pepp.


	28. Chapter 28

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note: **Writer's Block stinks! These chapters are simply getting longer and longer, I can't help it! Enjoy!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

It was tradition for the ANBU Squad Commanders to take a silent farewell when one of their own left the ranks (by cause of death, not when they left voluntarily), and since Harry was the only one left, he was alone in the white hospital room. The hunter-nin that were to dispose of the body to hide its secrets, Manji, Kakashi and Itachi, and everyone else waited politely outside in one of the hospital waiting rooms. The deceased's family had been there already, earlier that day, to take their farewell. They would get Usagi-san's ANBU mask as a memento – the _only_ memento aside from any pictures that might have been taken by the family previously, but even those would be exceedingly scarce once the hunter-nin had gone through them and removed all that might've given something away in one way or another. It was cruel, yes, but it was a necessary step towards protecting the secrets of the village, and all civilian families were made well-aware of this fact when they allowed their child to enter the Shinobi Academy.

'_You were good at your job, Usagi-san. You did your village and family proud,' _Harry thought as he gazed at the corpse of his fellow ANBU Squad Commander. Usagi-san had gained his title only recently, a few months before the Chunnin Exams in fact. And Harry remembered being there at the short ceremony along with Uma-san, telling the young ANBU that he had been chosen to take over for the previous ANBU Squad Commander, and the absolute joy that radiated off Usagi-san when he received his white cloak. Usagi had been the youngest of the three ANBU Squad Commanders, whilst Uma-san had been the oldest in age. Harry, however, had been the one who had held his position the longest. With as much pressure as such a high title put on the individual, most people could only hold it for five years before they needed a break, or quit entirely. Harry had been holding his position continuously approximately for the past fifteen years.

"At least you died a quiet and peaceful death, young one," the green-eyed man muttered. "You will be the envy of all the shinobi in town, you know. Even me."

With the violent life a ninja lead daily, most of them – especially those from higher up in the system – dreamed of either: A) dying in protection of the village, or B) dying a quiet death with no pain or torture. Those two dreams were rarely realised seeing as most shinobi died whilst on missions, but those who did die in either way were envied for a while. It all fit in with the macabre humour most shinobi possessed, but which was more often than not hidden away from the public to keep the civilians and potential customers from getting scared off. Weird, perhaps, but that's the way it went.

Harry bowed to the corpse, then strode across the dark room and opened the door. As soon as the door opened, two Hunter-nin appeared from the shadows of the corridor, nearly scaring the bejeezus out of Harry. "Go ahead," he managed to keep his voice from showing his fright.

"Hai, Ookami-sama," the two ninja replied at the same time, and disappeared into the room, closing the door after themselves.

Harry sighed tiredly, and leaned against the closest wall for support, glad that the waiting room was around the corner and further down that corridor so that no one saw him. The fact that he hadn't sensed the two Hunter-nin. scared him; was he really that badly off that he had lost his usually sharp sense of perception? It was a very dangerous situation, an assassin could come at any moment, and he wouldn't know until it was too late.

And it wasn't only his perception either, his other senses were getting worse and worse by the minute. He often had to reread a letter several times to process what it said, he suddenly needed his glasses again after all this time – and he had still been wearing the contacts too! His coordination was on civilian level, his strength was diminishing, his speed was more or less nonexistent, his hand shuddered whilst writing, he was hungry and thirsty, and he ached all over. Had he really pushed himself so far?

He had only taken a couple of steps down the corridor, when the unthinkable happened.

He _stumbled_.

A shinobi wasn't supposed to stumble, let alone an ANBU Squad Commander.

Leaning on the wall again, the green-eyed man bit back a groan of pain as both his upper thighs throbbed. He brought his hands down to clutch at his leg, and then quickly brought them back to his face when he felt something wet and sticky coat his bare fingers. He knew at once what it was, both the smell and the texture revealed that it was blood.

'_So my wounds have reopened finally, huh?'_ he thought. _'I really am worse off than I thought. I ought to get to a doctor. It shouldn't be too hard, I'm already inside a hospital, but-'_

"Ookami-sama!" voices echoed down the corridor from the waiting room. "Ookami-sama!"

"I have a mission report here that needs to be read through and signed!"

"Ookami-sama! The Aburame and the Inuzuka have sent in their reports! You need to look through them!"

"Ookami-sama! The jounins stationed further out have also sent in theirs!"

"The two sons of the Fire Lord are waking again! We can't keep them drugged in sleep for all eternity, what are we to do?!"

"The Feudal Lord of the Waterfall Country sent us a letter wondering if this would be a good time to visit Konoha! Ookmai-sama, what am I to tell his lordship?!"

'… _but there is simply no time to rest.'_ He pulled himself straight and, ignoring the pain, he strode down the corridor confidently. Luckily the blood wouldn't be too noticeable since several carpenters had been brought in not an hour ago, with deep wounds in their legs, and the scent of their blood would mask the scent of his.

Manji's angry voice cut through the rest. "Would you fools shut up for a minute, and let Ookami-sama rest?! He's honouring Usagi-sama!"

"No need to bite their heads of," Harry said as he entered the room and ignored everything around him except the papers thrust into his face. "Tell the Feudal Lord of Waterfall to wait until spring. Autumn is simply too wet and dreary a time for his lordship to see Konoha in. The last thing we need to worry about is an allied country's head of state running about."

"Ookami-sama-" Kakashi started, but was totally ignored.

"What of the Fire Lord's two sons?" someone asked.

"Give them a babysitting mission," Harry replied. "Classify it as S-class and tell them that they are watching the new generation of shinobi, which is very important seeing as these shinobi will one time in the future perhaps be guarding their necks. Or figure out something similar, just keep those two dolts out of my hair. You're a shinobi, see underneath the underneath and figure it out for yourself."

"Ookami-sama-" Manji tried this time, injecting a note of warning in his tone, but he faired no better than Kakashi.

"Shinta-san, what is this?" Harry waved the papers in question under the young jounnin's nose, and he started walking down the corridor that would take him out of the hospital.

"It's my mission report, sir," Shinta replied as he – and everyone else – hurried after the ANBU Squad Commander.

"If this is a report, then I'm the Queen of Shiba. I don't want to call in cryptologist to try to figure out your writing, Shinta-san, so please redo the entire report. And then please be kind enough to submit it to the mission office since they are the ones that deal with this stuff, and not me."

Shinta snorted. "I hardly have the time to go home and change into a clean uniform between missions, let alone worry about my handwriting!"

"Then how do other jounnin manage to do it? Do you want me to demote you back to chunnin? At least you'd have more time on your hands then." Harry almost snarled, took another step, and stumbled again.

Drops of blood landed on the floor.

People froze and stared. They seemed to suddenly remember that Harry had been severely injured not too long ago, and that he certainly hadn't had the time to properly rest since coming to Konoha. They also noted the paleness of his skin around his ANBU uniform, and they were suddenly finding out that they could handle very many of the problems they had needed help with.

"I… I'll rewrite that report, Ookami-sama," Shinta said hurriedly, and gently took the papers from the ANBU Squad Commander who seemed to have turned into a statue. "I'll give the finished report to Iruka-san when I go to get my next mission."

"I'll deal with the Fire Lord's sons, don't worry, Ookami-sama!"

"I can ask Hokuto-san to help me with the letter to the Feudal Lord of Waterfall Country."

Several other remarks like these were made, and suddenly the room seemed completely cleared of people except Harry, Manji, Itachi and Kakashi.

"Ookami-sensei, why didn't you tell us?" Itachi asked, breaking the tense silence.

"You should let a doctor take a look at those," Kakashi added worriedly, is eye trained first on the wet material on the thighs then going upwards to where the wounds in Harry's arms also had reopened. "They look serious."

"I think we can manage a couple of days without you, Ookami," Manji said. "It isn't quite as hectic anymore, things have calmed down, and you can afford to rest."

Harry simply shook his head. "Until the new Hokage gets here, I'm the only one with the authorization to go through certain documents, and I've already been called in for another meeting with Orochimaru in a week's time. There is simply no time for me to rest. No rest for the wicked, as they say."

If something hadn't happened, then Harry would have continued on his way fully prepared to work himself into a coma, and Manji, Itachi and Kakashi would have done their best to stop him. But something _did_ happen, and it led to better results for everyone.

Jiraiya suddenly appeared behind the exhausted ANBU Squad Commander, holding said man in a firm grip that immobilised Harry from the torso up. "This is for your own good, Harry," the Frog Hermit said, then nodded to the other three men in the room.

"Wha-?" was all Harry had the time to say before Manji suddenly appeared in front of him, and quickly closed off all the tenketsu points in Harry's arms. Then Itachi and Kakashi appeared, both having their sharingan activated, and quickly managed to put Harry into a deep sleep. The entire operation hadn't taken more than three or four seconds, but usually those seconds would've been more than enough for Harry to get away. It proved to everyone there just how weak the green-eyed man had become.

"Jiraiya-sama," Manji spoke up, "When did you get here? Is the new Hokage with you?"

"We got here this morning," the elder man replied. "And yes, Tsunade-hime has accepted the position as Konoha's Godaime Hokage. She's just back there at the desk, straightening something out with the medical staff."

"Thank god." Itachi muttered in relief. "Finally things are getting back in order."

"Wait a minute, if you got here this morning, then why did you reveal yourself just now?" Kakashi asked.

Jiraiya sighed as he picked up the unconscious Harry, and started heading towards a free hospital room. "Tsunade wanted to confirm Harry's loyalty to Konoha. She's suspicious of his link to Orochimaru."

"So she waited until things got this bad only because of her rather baseless suspicions?" Itachi raised a sceptic eyebrow behind his mask. "That doesn't sound like a good Hokage to me. Where was she whilst Harry-sensei worked himself to the bone in order to keep Konoha safe?"

Both Manji and Kakashi seemed to be leaning towards this view of things, though they didn't vocalize their displeasure.

"You're letting personal feelings affect-" Jiraiya started, but was cut off by a shout from further down the corridor.

"HARRY-NII-SAN!!!!" Naruto's voice echoed through the hospital – and probably throughout the entire village. Said boy came running down the corridor, and straight up to Jiraiya. "What happened to him?! What's with all the blood?! Kakashi-sensei!"

"His wounds have reopened, Naruto." Kakashi replied.

"Reopened?" the blond parroted. "Wha-?"

"WHAT?!" came another shout that echoed throughout the hospital and the village. A blond lady with her hair in two, lose pigtails, a green jacket and a pair of dark-blue, shin-long pants, strode down the corridor. "What do you mean his wounds have reopened?!" she demanded as she examined the wounds.

"He worked himself to the bone whilst you were wondering whether to trust him or not." Itachi said, though his voice was clearly displeased. "Tsunade-san," he added as an afterthought. It was clear that the new Hokage would have to work very hard in order to receive any respect or trust from him.

"Blasted!" Tsunade growled, then rounded on Jiraiya. "What are you standing there for, you old pervert?! Get him into the room and undress him! Shizune! I'll need your help with this one!"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," a young woman with dark, short hair spoke up and hurried into the room after Jiraiya. What had the three male shinobi stumped was the fact that she was carrying a small pig in her arms.

A small pig that was dressed in a purple vest, and also wore a necklace of beads.

The three males exchanged weird looks. Now they had seen everything.

"And you three!" Tsunade turned to them. "Go back to the Hokage Tower and keep everything under control!"

"We'll do it, but not because you told us to, Tsunade-san." Manji replied before he and Itachi disappeared.

Kakashi sighed. "You will have to work hard to get any of the shinobi to trust and respect you." He said to the woman. "After this little stunt of yours gets out – and it _will_ get out – no one will be too happy about it."

The Slug Sannin snorted. "Men!" she growled then entered the hospital room where Jiraiya, Harry and Shizune were, and slammed the door after herself. The door rattled dangerously on its hinges, but nothing happened.

Naruto and Kakashi started walking through the hospital, though Naruto continuously threw looks behind himself until they went around the corner. Then he looked up at the silver-haired man. "What was all that about, Kakashi-sensei? I thought you would be happy to have a new Hokage."

"It's politics, Naruto. You have all the information necessary to get to the right conclusion, so use that brain of yours and think." Kakashi said, and ruffled the boy's hair to show that he wasn't angry or irritated by the question.

"Oh." The boy said, then was quiet for another while. "Did Harry-nii-san really work himself so hard that his wounds reopened?"

"That's what a Hokage does. He or she works much harder than anyone else in the village – they are the pillar of the village, you might say – and therefore we cannot afford to let the Hokage get seriously injured. Then the machine that is Konoha would stop up, or the Hokage would work until their wounds reopened as Harry did, and both paths can lead to the destruction of the village in the worst case scenario."

Naruto had a lot to think about after that, and didn't utter a word as the two of them entered the Hokage Tower. He simply veered off from Kakashi and towards the mission office, whilst the Copy-nin went upstairs in order to help out.

-x-x-x-x-

Tsunade and Shizune stood over the unconscious ANBU Squad Commander for a long time, working quickly and efficiently to heal the reopened wounds, and anything else that had been damaged; then they did their best to deal with the malnutrition and dehydration and other things that Harry brought onto himself in the past weeks. They hooked him up to numerous machines, and then simply sat down on the nearest bed in the room to rest.

"Just why did he end up like that?" Shizune asked and stared at the man on the bed. They hadn't removed the ANBU mask, both out of respect and because it hadn't been necessary. It was standard procedure when an ANBU was involved: never take the mask off unless absolutely necessary.

"He did the work of the Hokage and the work the three ANBU Squad Commanders usually divide amongst themselves," Jiraiya spoke up from his corner. He had been there the entire time, holding on to the ANBU issued katana and other weapons he had found when he had undressed Harry. "And when you take into consideration the circumstances – the panic, the annoying local lords, and all – it's no wonder that he ended up as he did. It's not quite what you expected of Orochimaru's infamous grandson, is it Tsunade-hime?"

"I have been proven wrong…" Tsunade agreed. "So far." She added. Her eyes hadn't strayed from the still figure in the bed, and she wondered what his face really looked like. Jiraiya had of course tried to prepare her for what was to come when they finally reached Konoha, but nothing could have prepared her for the greeting that Itachi, Manji and Kakashi had given her, or just how good a leader Orochimaru's grandson had proven to be. To tell the truth she had kind of expected an Orochimaru-clone, laughing evilly while Konoha was in total chaos. It was perhaps a bit childish, but she couldn't help it – especially not after having that run in with the Snake Sannin himself.

She suddenly stood up and walked over to the bed. Her hands touched the porcelain mask, then hesitated for a minute. It wasn't right to take off an ANBU's mask without asking for permission first, it didn't _feel_ right.

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune inquired as she stepped up to her mentor. "Is something wrong?"

"If I'm to be the Godaime Hokage, then I need to know the face of my right-hand man and the only ANBU Squad Commander currently in my service." Tsunade said, wondering for a minute if she was trying to convince Shizune or herself.

Jiraiya grinned from his corner. "And you'll also need his stamp of approval before the shinobi of Konoha will even think about listening to you. It may seem like an unofficial technicality, but it's a very important technicality."

"I hate politics," Tsunade muttered, then gently removed the wolf-shaped mask.

No description in any bingo-book, wanted-poster or by word-of-mouth could have prepared her for the sight that met her. The man wasn't ugly, far from it. It was a ruggedly handsome face, tanned and with the occasional, small scar. And, although she could see the family resemblance, Orochimaru's grandson didn't look anything like she had thought he would.

"They are so alike and yet so different," Shizune said.

The Slug Sannin nodded absentmindedly. "Lets leave him alone to rest for now, we have so much to do and can't afford to waste time here."

"We can leave Tonton to keep watch," Shizune suggested and the small pig in question voiced its agreement with a simple oink.

"Then lets get going." Jiraiya held the door open. "Ladies first," he said with a lecherous grin.

The new Godaime Hokage's eyebrow twitched. "PERVERT!!!!" she roared and sent her old team-mate flying down the corridor and through the wall with a well-placed punch.

"Tsunade-sama! We need Jiraiya-san's help, we don't need him in the hospital as well!"

"Don't worry about that pervert, Shizune, he'll survive." Tsunade said as she closed the door after herself. She cast one last look at the room's occupant through the window, before she hurried after her companions. _'You have proven to be such a surprising individual so far, Potter Harry, that I can't help but wonder what else you have up your sleeve.'_

-x-x-x-x-

Seeing as it was impossible to get good enough to beat fully trained ANBU in only four years, Orochimaru had been forced to cheat slightly when it came to Harry's training – without telling his grandson about his plans until it was too late. The sannin attacked when Harry was at his weakest – much like Jiraiya, Itachi, Kakashi and Manji had done – and had knocked the teen unconscious, then proceeded to perform several small experiments, but he didn't forget to add the mixture that would enhance his grandson's strength, speed and chakra. It was a procedure that had previously taken the life of every single one of his subjects, but Harry had survived 'on sheer stubborn will and luck' as Orochimaru would remark later on.

Either way, the point of it was that Harry was not a happy camper at all, and it had taken the green-eyed man ages to find out exactly what Orochimaru had done to him. Luckily none of it had been to bad, but the experience had stuck with him to this very day. The events that happened when Harry finally woke up would have surprised no one, that is if they had known about that particular incident. Unfortunately no one had been told, and therefore much insanity happened and Harry and Tsunade's first meeting didn't go as well as it could have.

Harry woke up abruptly and without a sound. His eyes simply snapped open, the light blinding them for a second before they got used to it. The sounds of something snuffling around alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone in the room, and he tensed. When said something proved to be first sitting at the end of his bed, then starting to move towards his face, Harry tensed even more. And when the creature suddenly jumped on his chest, coming face to face with the disoriented ANBU Squad Commander, said man simply reacted on instinct. He grabbed the creature around the throat and slammed it into the bed, his other arm raised and ready to deliver a devastating punch.

The creature he had caught oinked in panic, and Harry froze.

He blinked a few times to clear his head from the memories of Orochimaru's experiments and Harry's own unwilling participation, and focused on the present.

"… a… pig…?" Harry muttered as he gazed at his victim. And it was a pig. A pig no bigger than a normal piglet, dressed in a purple vest and a beaded necklace. But the intelligence in the pig's eyes clearly proved that it wasn't a normal farm animal, but a shinobi's companion. "A _pig_?"

The pig oinked at him again.

Harry shifted until he was kneeling on the bed, and held the creature up by its vest as he examined it.

Animal and shinobi stared at each other for a while.

"You're one of the Akimichi Clan's few escaped lunches, aren't you?" Harry asked the pig. "Not that it helped much, because now you're going to become _my_ lunch." He told the creature, which started to squirm desperately and oink in panic again.

Harry ignored its tries to get free, and reached over to the chair beside his bed. His now-clean ANBU uniform was placed neatly on it, with the wolf-shaped mask lying on top. He rooted around for a minute and brought out his wand, and used magic to put on his mask since he couldn't use both hands. Then he turned back to the sweating pig, conjured up a sturdy stick and rope, and tied the small creature to it.

"Hmm," he muttered. "You're rather small, piggy, but I suppose you'll have to do."

_Oink_! _Oink-oink! Oink!_

Ignoring the creature completely Harry waved his wand, and a blue fire that needed no fuel, gave off no smoke and hovered in the air above the bed, appeared and he then promptly raised the pig-on-the-stick over it.

_OINK!!!! _

"Don't worry, piggy, I'm only going to roast you!" he told it.

_OINK!!!! OINK!!!!_ the pig squealed in panic.

And it proceeded this way for about five minutes, with Harry talking to the pig about how he was going to roast it or of other ways to eat a pig – "Bacon's good, but after having to cook it for the Dursleys almost every day for fifteen years I'm staying far away from it if I can!" – and the pig oinking and squealing and squirming in panic.

Suddenly the door of the room was thrown open, and Tsunade stood in the doorway. "What the hell is going on here?!" she demanded, then her eyes settled on the scene on the bed.

The two humans stared at each other for a while, seizing each other up and measuring.

"Wanna join the feast?" Harry asked and waved the stick slightly. The pig looked like it had a very bad sunburn, and was sweating like crazy. It was quite funny, actually. A fully grown man sitting on the bed in his pyjamas and ANBU mask, roasting a clothed pig over a blue, floating fire. You didn't see that every day, that's for certain!

However, Tsunade found it anything but funny and she was on the other side of the room in the blink of an eye, her arm swinging forwards in a punch. "What the devil do you think you are doing?!"

Luckily for Harry he flattened himself to the bed and ducked under the hit which would have, more likely than not, sent him across the room, through the wall, and probably across half the village of Konoha.

"There are only two explanations for your anger. One is that you are a vegetarian and an animal-activist, or that pig is your pet. I'm not staying to figure out which thesis is correct." During the speech he quickly used a spell to exchange his pyjamas with his ANBU uniform, then disappeared through the window.

"Get back here, you brat!!!!" Tsunade roared and set off after him. "As your personal physician I haven't given you clearance to leave the hospital yet!!!!"

"There's no way in hell that I'll listen to the orders of some old biddy!" Harry yelled back.

"_OLD_ _BIDDY_!?!?!! WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN OLD BIDDY?!?!?!?!?"

The two of them sped hither and thither and all over the village, to and fro without stop and without a break in their insulting of each other. It was crazy pandemonium, but surprisingly no one really paid it any attention.

"Harry-nii-san does know who he's dealing with, doesn't he?" Naruto asked as the pair passed Ichiraku's ramen stand for the fifth time.

Manji blew on his own ramen. "Of course he does." He said. This was the first time in ages that all of them had time to meet up, and eat lunch together, and they were going to enjoy it.

"Then why-?" Sasuke cut himself off with a wince as he heard the crash that signalled yet another thing being destroyed violently.

"He's testing her." Itachi replied. "Seeing as he has the highest rank in the village, and as the acting Hokage, then he has the final say in whether or not Tsunade-san becomes the Godaime Hokage."

"But I thought that Tsunade-sama was already the Hokage. She's been handling things this past week while Harry-san's been in the hospital." Sakura sounded completely confused.

"He's the spokesperson of the village, most importantly of the shinobi part. And if he doesn't like what he finds out when he tests Tsunade-san, then he can deny her the title and the Council of Clan Heads and the Elders will have to bow to his will and expertise in the case." Kakashi explained, already finished with his ramen. "If the other two ANBU Squad Commanders had been there, they would have tested her as well, after which they'd get together to discuss their opinions and findings. It happens whenever a new Hokage is chosen."

Itachi nodded and added, "And it happens the other way around whenever a new ANBU Squad Commander or ANBU Captain is to be chosen. Such important jobs need to be filled by the best people out there, and the judges are anything but gentle. Though the ANBU Captains don't have any real power whenever a new Hokage is to be chosen, they are often consulted just in case."

"That's a lot of work to fill only one position." Naruto said as he watched Harry and Tsunade run past the Ichiraku again, with Harry running backwards and lifting his mask high enough to stick out his tongue.

"VERY MATURE OF YOU!!!!" Tsunade roared and nearly split a house in two as she punched the ground in an attempt to catch the elusive Harry.

"Just give it up, you hag!" Harry shouted to her. "You'll never catch me! You're too old!"

"Come back and say that to my face!!!!"

"HAG!!! HAG!!! HAG!!! HAG!!!"

"YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!!!!"

-x-x-x-x-

It was sometimes soon after midnight that the chase finally ended in order to give the citizens of Konoha opportunity to sleep peacefully. Tsunade stood on top of the Hokage Mountain, panting slightly and leaning on the railing. She was tired, very tired. She had been chasing the green-eyed man the entire day, and not once had she managed to catch him. Harry really was faster than any of the rumours had said, faster than any person she had ever met before, and she would admit – only to herself of course – that she was very impressed by his speed, adaptability and ingenuity. He really deserved his position as an ANBU Squad Commander. She knew that he was about to test her the second she walked into the hospital room, and she had risen to the challenge without a second thought.

"I haven't had so much fun in ages," she muttered to herself with a smile as she gazed out over Konoha. _'Dan, Nawaki, Sarutobi-sensei, will I be the new pillar of Konoha? Will I be able to handle it all?'_

"It's quite the sight, isn't it, Tsunade-hime?" Harry asked, his sudden appearance causing the woman to jump around and raise her fist. "Easy there, tiger, we're done for today," he chuckled and stepped up beside her.

"Finally admitting defeat, are you?" Tsunade asked.

"You were the one who stopped chasing me, not the other way around," Harry pointed out, his voice still amused. "Konoha is quite the tree," he remarked suddenly and quite out of the blue.

"I have missed it." Tsunade admitted. She knew she had to be frank with him, he was going to be her right-hand man and they had to have absolute trust in each other. Sure, other ANBU Squad Commanders would be chosen and Shizune would be her secretary, but Harry was the one who would help her do her job, who knew everything there was to know about Konoha, the one with whom her position as the Godaime Hokage stood and fell.

"The tree received many harsh blows, and was nearly bowled over." He said. Perhaps the sentence was cliché and corny, but that was the only way that he could put his thoughts into words. "Are you going to totally destroy it, or raise it to its former glory?"

She stared him straight into the eyes, her voice was certain and determined. "I'm going to raise it past its former glory, but I can't do it alone. I need your help, Harry, I need the help of every citizen in all of Konoha. Will you help me?"

Harry stared at her seriously for a moment, then mentioned for her to follow him. He led her into the complex system of caves and corridors dug throughout the Hokage Mountain, and which were usually used to either: 1) evacuate civilians, 2) when a pair of lovers wanted to be alone, or 3) when the ANBU were to questions a prisoner, though there were special rooms in the mountain just for that purpose, and there were certain marks that were put up if an interrogation was going on in order to tell others to stay away from that particular corridor or cave.

They wouldn't be interrupted or spied on in there.

After a few minutes of wandering through the mountain, and with only the Bluebell flames as a source of light, Harry stopped in a cave that was smaller than the others and where there were no windows at all. He quickly lit the few torches around the wall, and took off his ANBU mask. "I hope you remember the way to this cave. We're going to be meeting here quite a lot in the future to determine who's going to become the two new ANBU Squad Commanders and the new batch of ANBU Captains. We lost quite a lot of them in the attack."

"So I get the job?" Tsunade asked. For some strange reason, Harry suddenly seemed so much more alike Orochimaru in the darkness of the cave. The light from the torches flickered over his face in some secret patterns, and his impossibly green eyes glowed.

"For now, though I reserve the right to throw you out of Konoha if the need ever arises." Harry replied, though it was mostly a tradition to say it. Never before had a Hokage been thrown out of his position, and Tsunade didn't wish to be the first.

"Other than show me the way and tell me that I am the new Hokage, is there any special reason as to why you brought me here?" she asked, though she knew what was to happen. Once again it was tradition that dictated the unfolding events. Each ANBU Squad Commander would give the new Hokage a gift, as a start of a new chapter in Konoha's history.

Harry nodded. "Of course there is. I am going to give you a gift, a token of your new position and your new life. However, there is something you must know. The gift I give you is too good to be wasted away, so be _very_ careful with it, you will not get a second chance. The other thing is that I want your absolute silence on what's to happen here. If the Akatsuki or certain other characters get a wind of this, then more than one person will get hurt."

Tsunade couldn't help but wonder what kind of gift the younger man was talking about, but she readily gave her vow not to reveal anything of what happened in this cave. "Until death." She finished her vow seriously.

"Excellent." Harry grinned, then took out a nicely decorated wooden flute. It was the same flute that he had bought in the temple when he was travelling with Orochimaru, the same flute that had put a Cerberus to sleep more than once, and the same flute that had inspired Otogakure. He began to blow a haunting, surreal melody on the instrument, the notes creating a beautiful echo around the cave.

Tsunade couldn't contain her gasp. It was beautiful and magical and… she really didn't know how to explain it. She watched on as Harry played, then suddenly noticed that the notes from the flute weren't the only sound she heard. An even more magical sound had joined, and in a sudden burst of flames a crimson, swan-like bird appeared on Harry's shoulder, it's long tail-feathers wrapping around the ANBU Squad Commander's body.

She could only stare at the majestic creature.

"This, Tsunade-san, is a phoenix. You have heard of them, right?"

Tsunade simply nodded. Of course she had heard about the legendary creature! It was a legend! If freely given then it's tears could heal any kind of ailment known to man, as far as her knowledge went, and all healers wished to see one. It was like the unofficial emblem of all doctors on the Shinobi Continent, just like a snake was the symbol for those who lived in the Other World, the world of the Wand Shinobi.

Harry smiled. "His name is Fawkes. He was the companion of my sensei, and he has helped me out more than once." He said and turned to the magnificent creature. "Fawkes, I need some of your tears, my friend."

Fawkes rubbed his head against Harry's cheek, then bent over the small crystal beaker that Harry had transformed from an ordinary rock, and let his tears run down his feathered cheeks, down its beak, and fall into the waiting beaker. The phoenix cried until the small beaker was full, then straightened again, and trilled a few notes. He rubbed his head against Harry one last time, then disappeared in the same manner that he had appeared, and the room seemed so much dimmer.

The green-eyed man wasted no time to transform the holder of the precious liquid into a necklace, and he was careful to make it look like the necklace that Tsunade had given Naruto; then he held it out to the still-shocked woman. "You better watch over this, because I will not call for Fawkes again no matter what. I have already called him three times, and that is more than enough. Congratulation on becoming Konoha's Godaime Hokage, Tsunade-san."

Tsunade accepted the necklace on automatic, and Harry simply smiled. He put on his ANBU mask again, and in the blink of an eye he was gone, leaving the shell-shocked woman behind. It took a while before Tsunade could finally process what had happened, and start making her way back towards her new apartment. She ignored any and all questions that Shizune asked, and simply went straight to where the sake-bottles were placed and started drinking.

'_You are nothing like Orochimaru, Harry-san. Nothing at all, and yet you are just as good with surprising me. Here's to you, grandson of my former team-mate. Cheers!'_

-x-x-x-x-

Wow, what a long chapter! Please tell me what you think!

I know that I rather emphasized on the chaos happening in Konoha after the attack, but I felt that the series – both anime and manga – more or less ignored it, and I didn't like that. So I decided to change that.

You'll have to wait for a little longer for the explanation concerning Harry and Shisui's conversation, but it IS important, so bear it in mind!

I know that Tsunade and Harry seem rather similar, but that's why they get along so greatly! XD

More Harry-Naruto interaction next chapter!

I am sorry about the lack of updates on other stories, but I swear it won't be long now. I won't say which story is to be updated first, because I myself don't know, but one or the other _will_ be updated. That's the only thing that's certain.

Thanks to:

Adnexus, Regress13, Storm Master Tempest, TanyaPotter, NamelessHeretic, The Insane Imortal Dragon, Curlz-Shadow Kitsune, dark672, Beta the Second, HolyKnight5, magicgirl45852, firmin, Wolven Spirits, hittocerebattosai, XTakaX27, HIM's Loyal Servant, AceZ-Shadow, Shinobi's Fire, LynnGryphon, polabear, Morrolan, Knives, Lenyor Fier Mensheir, azilla, angelsdawn1004, Anave Lipad, muto shizuka, kirallie, Djago, FireAngel8723, BasicallyAnIdiot, Serenader, Julian Snape, 2stupid, Honebar, and Z-AKA Andrea-.


	29. Chapter 29

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** This is officially now my longest story ever, and it's liable to get even longer. Thank you for hanging on this far, and I hope you continue to follow in the future as well. Please enjoy the following chapter.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

The two weeks following Tsunade's instatement as the Godaime Hokage were hectic with work, especially for Tsunade and Harry. Tsunade had to go through all the notes that the Sandaime and the Yondaime had left to catch up on what had been going on, and she had to go to a lot of meetings – most of which were rather useless. And once that was done she and Harry had a meeting, and discussed the potential people to give various ranks, from chunnin to ANBU Squad Commander. They usually didn't retire until well after midnight, and only when Shizune barged into the office and forced them home and into bed.

Seeing as the busty woman had so much to catch up on, and so many meetings to go to, Harry spent these weeks running the shinobi and slowly easing Tsunade into the role. And slowly the two of them agreed on people to fill the empty spots in the shinobi ranks. The first positions they filled were the ANBU Squad Commanders, then ANBU Captains, jounnin, and finally chunnin. There were a lot of gennin that were promoted, but it was because all of them deserved it and not because they were short on people. Either way, before two weeks were over things had finally gotten back on track in Konoha, a funeral had been held for the Sandaime Hokage, and people were starting to return to their daily lives.

Because of being so incredibly busy Harry had been forced to send a message to Orochimaru, and postpone their meeting to a later date. He used the excuse that Tsunade trusted him about as much as one would a poisonous snake, and also that that it would seem suspicious for him to suddenly disappear so soon after the attack. The remaining members of Root, and Sai and Danzo were watching him with Argus eyes, and he barely managed to send the message itself with a small snake which he portkeyed to Orochimaru's lair. Harry just hoped that Orochimaru would accept this and not beat him senseless when he did show up.

"That is as close to the truth as it gets," Tsunade agreed when Harry told her. "And I really do not trust you yet, despite everything."

"I didn't expect anything else from you, old hag," Harry replied, though his tone was teasing. "Now, why did you call for me? You've got another couple of Squad Commanders to torture now, so there's really no need to annoy me so much."

The blond woman snorted, and held up a scroll. "This is your newest mission, given to you by Sarutobi-sensei I believe. It talks about this Malfoy and this Macmillan, two of the prisoners stationed here in the Hokage Tower."

"Ah, yes, those two. I almost forgot about them… again." Harry sighed and took the scroll. "Alright, I'll deal with them right now."

"Good, I want those two out of my hair. They take up too much place, and I've already gotten enough complaints about them from the guards. Once you're done with them, report to me."

"Hai, hai, Hokage-san." The green-eyed man headed towards the door, opting to walk through the Hokage Tower instead of transporting straight to the dungeons. It would also give him an opportunity to check up on things as he traversed through the corridors and lounges.

"Oh, and one more thing."

"Hmm?" Harry sent the woman a look over his shoulder.

"STOP CALLING ME A HAG, YOU LITTLE BRAT!!!!" Tsunade roared, causing several flocks of birds on the other side of the village to take to the air.

"Now where's the fun in that, eh grandma?" He smirked, then quickly ducked out of the way of the various projectiles Tsunade threw at him.

"YOU'RE DEAD!!!!"

Harry chuckled as he hurriedly closed the doors of the office, and started his trek towards the dungeons. "Good day, Shizune-san. You might want to wait for a while before approaching the Hokage with even more paperwork. She was a bit incensed when I left."

The young, black-haired woman sighed and glared at him half-heartedly. "Can't you stop pissing Tsunade-sama off, Ookami-san?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Well, for one, more paperwork would get done." She replied dryly.

"Not good enough reason, sorry," his eyes were glittering in amusement. "How can I resist teasing Tsunade-san, when she gives me such wonderful opportunities? Well, I shall leave you to your work and go do my own which, luckily, isn't paperwork."

Shizune sighed. "You two are so alike that it's scary."

"Probably the only reason why we haven't killed each other yet." Harry nodded to the young woman then went on his way.

People greeted him as he walked through the different levels of the Tower, and once he was stopped by the newest and youngest ANBU Squad Commander who needed some advice. Other than that it didn't take him long to get to the underground dungeons, and he was very satisfied by what he had seen on his walk there. The Hokage Tower was back in full swing, and so was the rest of the village. Everything was going perfectly.

"Ookami-sama," the two jounnin guards greeted and saluted him when he entered the antechamber to the dungeons.

"What can we do for you?" one asked.

"I'm here for prisoners #37 and #12."

"Finally." The other jounnin sighed happily, then remembered where he was and coughed in embarrassment. "Sorry."

Harry simply shook his head. "No need. If I had to sit here every day and listen to their whining, I'd be doing a jig if someone told me that those two prisoners were about to finally be taken care of."

The two jounnin chuckled. "If you will follow me, Ookami-sama, I'll lead you to the two cells in question. Which one do you want to visit first?"

"Malfoy Lucius first."

"Cell #37 it is then." The jounnin led the way, and it didn't take long before the two were standing outside the correct cell. The jounnin then let his chakra flow through the door, a click was heard and the man opened the door for Harry to enter. He placed himself in the doorway as a guard. "As you can see, Ookami-sama, prisoner #37 isn't exactly as he used to be."

And the man was correct. Lucius Malfoy was a far cry from what he had once been. His hair was long, unkempt, and resembled a rats nest. The man himself was thin as a rake, his skin sallow and oily despite the regular baths and the regular meals, and his grey eyes were dull and crazed. The robes were long gone, but he had been given new clothes, but nothing could change the rather pitiful look that the once-proud man now sported. Malfoy was currently standing in a corner, looking at the wall, and gurgling and murmuring to himself, a bit of drool sliding from the corner of his lips.

Harry shook his head. "Did Ibiki or any of his people torture him?"

"No, sir. You told them not to, and no one has done anything as far as I know. One day he was fine, then the next day we find him like this." Came the reply.

"Did any of you check the dark mark?"

"We couldn't find it."

"Really?" the green-eyed man stalked over to the oblivious Malfoy, grabbed the man's arm, rolled up the sleeve and sent a burst of chakra into the arm. Nothing happened, and Harry raised an eyebrow in surprise. Voldemort must have upgraded the mark or something, because it had always reacted on chakra before. _'This upgrading probably drove Malfoy crazy as well. It served its purpose, at least. We can't prove that Malfoy ever was a Death Eater, and Malfoy can't reveal any of Voldemort's secrets anymore.'_

"Did you find the mark, Ookami-sama?" the jounnin asked.

"No," the ANBU Squad Commander sighed. "Malfoy is no use for us anymore."

"The usual then?"

"The usual."

"Alright. The medic-nin have been asking about a new test subject, and so has Ibiki, and the hunter-nin. I'll hand Malfoy over to Ibiki, I think. Maybe the sadist can get something out of him." The jounnin locked the door of the cell, then led the way to Macmillan's cell. "Oi! Macmillan! Get up! Ookami-sama is here for you."

Macmillan was sane as ever, and other than being slightly thinner and not quite as well groomed as before, he didn't seem to have suffered much during his imprisonment. Now he stood up from his cot, and watched as Harry and the jounnin entered the cell and the jounnin locked it. "Well, well, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

Harry snorted behind his mask. "Do not consider yourself important, Macmillan. I am simply here because you are taking up too much space and resources to keep alive."

Ernie blinked in surprise, then cocked his head to the side. "-That voice…-" he muttered. "-There's something familiar about that voice.-"

"-Of course there is, Macmillan,-" the green-eyed man said as he lifted his mask. "-We did go to the same school for six years. We also worked together for several years, and then you tried to blackmail and threaten me into returning to the wizarding world. Now, I have some questions for you, and you better answer them.-"

"-Is that a threat, Harry?-"

"-Take it as you wish. First question: why did you sell shinobi cosplay items to the wizarding world? You have been well-informed about the no-mix-between-the-two-worlds rule, as have all Order agents and D.A. members, so you knew that you were doing something illegal.-"

"-Why didn't you return to the wizarding world when we needed you the most?-" Ernie returned with a question of his own.

Harry's eyes narrowed, but he tried again. "-Second question: exactly how much have you told the wizards about the shinobi?-"

The former Hufflepuff smirked. "-Exactly how much did you intend to keep secret?-"

"-Third question: who were your contacts at the black market? And you better answer this one, Macmillan, or else I'll get violent.-"

Ernie sighed and shook his head sadly. "-These barbarians have really changed you, Harry. You went from being a perfectly open and nice Gryffindor to wearing such a Slytherin-like assassin-for-hire mask. If you aren't careful, then you'll lose yourself in this terrible new persona you've created.-"

By now Harry had given up on getting Macmillan to answer his questions through normal means, and he was getting ready to take out the heavy artillery. He did some hand-signs, and muttered, **"Hébì Mitsúmerú: Níbàn ni Oítsukù!"** _(Snake Eyes: Second Level!)_

The jounnin by the door to the cell quickly shielded his eyes. Rumours about the technique had travelled fast, and everyone had heard about the two doctors that had been frozen solid by simply looking into Harry's eyes. Understandably not many wanted to suffer the same fate.

Harry easily caught Ernie with his gaze, and watched in slight fascination as the other turned almost stone-like – even Ernie's skin and clothes turned a slight greyish colour. The Hufflepuff's eyes were wide and surprised, and a slight amount of fear had entered them as they gazed straight at the ANBU Squad Commander. "-I know you are thinking about the incidents in second year when several students were petrified by the basilisk, and you are on the correct track. If it weren't for the basilisk's poison which still runs through my veins, then I wouldn't be able to do that. Either way, I'm not done with you yet.-" Harry took a breath and performed another couple of hand-seals. **"Hébi Mitsúmerú: Ichíbàn ni Oítsukù!"** _(Snake Eyes: First Level!)_

This was the weakest level of this technique, and was nothing else but a fancy name for Legilimency. Harry found it easier to perform Legilimency when he did hand-seals, just like most wizards needed their wands to do the technique. Either way, now that he didn't have to worry about Ernie running away or turning his head in a different direction, Harry could take his sweet time in rifling through the former Hufflepuff's mind, and learn everything he needed to.

As he had already known, Ernie Macmillan had been involved in the black market, and he had sold quite a lot of valuable and dangerous items from the wizarding world – amongst them the Hand of Glory that Orochimaru now owned. There was a long list of people that had been the buyers, and Harry made sure to note every single one. But things didn't stop there. Harry also finally got to know just how badly the orphanage had treated Naruto when the boy had been in their care, and he also got to know just how much damage Ernie had managed to wreck on the plans of the Order. And all of this was done with the best of intentions. But there was one piece of information that really interested Harry, and it involved none other than his dear old grandfather.

'_Well, well, what do we have here? You've been very busy, Ernie, and I see now that you have also had direct dealings with both Orochimaru and Kabuto. Now the question is why didn't you tell me about this?'_ The green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander shook his head when he finally cancelled the technique, and lowered his mask again. "It's amazing just how much trouble a single person can cause." He muttered.

Ernie was sweating, but he did manage to let out a few questioning hmm-ing sounds. "Hm! Hmm hmhmm hmm!?"

"-I can't understand a single word you're saying.-" Harry leaned in closer, his mouth positioned just by the Hufflepuff's ear. "-And here's some food for thought. Earlier you said that I am wearing a mask, but this is the million dollar question: is the Slytherin-personality that I have now the mask, or was it the Gryffindor-personality during our schooldays?-"

It had been possible then Macmillan's eyes would have widened to unimaginable proportions at this statement. As it was all he could do was 'hmm' something or other that neither of the shinobi paid any attention to.

"What are we to do with him, Ookami-sama?" the jounnin asked. He couldn't stop staring at the prisoner. What a devastating technique the ANBU Squad Commander had in his arsenal.

"Give him over to the research department. Those guys have practically been begging me on their knees for another 'human statue'." Harry replied as the two walked out of the cell and headed towards the exit.

"Hai. Did you learn what you needed to?"

"That and a whole lot more. The Hokage will need to know about this as soon as possible."

The jounnin nodded. "Of course, and I'll get to carrying out your orders at once, Ookami-sama."

The wolf-masked man simply nodded and brought his hands together in a seal. He was gone in a poof of smoke.

The jounnin that had been waiting in the antechamber, looked at his companion. "So, how did it go?"

"Prisoner #37 is to be shipped over to Ibiki, and prisoner #12 has just become a human statue." The other replied.

"You mean you got to see the Snake Eyes-technique performed?! You lucky bastard! Next time Ookami-sama comes down here then I'm accompanying him, and you can stay here and bore yourself silly while waiting for us!"

-x-x-x-x-

"Let me get this straight," Harry said as he stared at the Godaime Hokage. "You want _me_ to lead a three-man team consisting of two newly-promoted chunnin and one gennin, on a C-class mission which involves protecting the daughter of a local lord; and I'm not allowed to go as an ANBU?"

"Yes." Tsunade nodded.

"You do realise that I'm still a chunnin officially. I'm not _qualified_ for such things." The ANBU Squad Commander raised an eyebrow, slightly amused by the entire situation. Officially ANBU did not exist despite any and all evidence otherwise. This made it easier for the feudal lords and the -kage to deny any knowledge or involvement if a mission went wrong. Therefore every ANBU member had another rank in the official papers that were kept in the Hokage Tower; the classified information about the members of the ANBU were kept in another place, completely secret from everyone except the Hokage and the ANBU Squad Commanders. It was like this in every village, and it was a useful little technicality that would never be fixed.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow in response. "Seeing as Konoha's jounnin ranks still aren't completely full, I'm giving you a promotion. And besides, Orochimaru would have become suspicious if I sent you out on A- and S-class missions without a 'trial period' to check if your loyalty really lies with Konohagakure."

The green-eyed man nodded in understanding. "I suppose you're right."

"I want you back here in half an hour," the new Hokage said. "By that time your team will be here, as will your customer. Get going."

"Hai, hai, grandma."

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!!!!"

Harry chuckled and quickly disappeared from the Hokage Tower, and headed back to his apartment to change into his rarely-used chunnin/jounnin uniform. It was something of a tradition for newly-made chunnin to be accompanied on their first couple of missions by a jounnin that was not their teacher. This was to make sure that they did not depend too much on their teacher, that they could make their own decisions, and also to keep them from panicking because they were suddenly thrust into situations they hadn't encountered before and had no one to ask for advice. Some people thought that all this _coddling_ of the new ninja was useless, and they had tried to stop it more than once – luckily they had never succeeded.

In exactly half an hour Harry was walking through the corridors of the Hokage Tower again, this time in the blue uniform and green flak jacket of the normal shinobi. He turned many a head and several ANBU stopped to stare, wondering if the green-eyed man had been demoted from his Squad Commander position.

"Not to worry," Harry told them. "It's only temporary." Personally he felt somewhat exposed without his wolf-mask; it had been a long time since he last went on missions without it, and his hand twitched to retrieve it or to cast a slight glamour on his face to keep people from recognising him. _'This is going to take some getting used to.'_

"Ah, and here's the last member of the team." Tsunade said as Harry entered the office.

Four pairs of eyes focused on the green-eyed man who smirked. "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, pick your jaws off the floor will you."

"Harry-nii-san?" Naruto gaped.

"Who else would it be?"

"But why…?" Sasuke trailed off.

"Because I still don't trust him." Tsunade offered. "Now put yourselves together! Naruto, Sasuke, you're chunnin now. You can't afford to stand and gape like a couple of goldfishes. This will be a good experience for all three of you. Harry, this is Hitsumi-sama. Hitsumi-sama, this is Potter Harry the team leader."

Harry bowed politely to the young woman. "Good day, hime-sama."

The woman smiled kindly, lifting a hand draped in several layers of beautiful kimono, and covered her lower face bashfully. "It is an honour to meet you, Potter Harry-san." She said in a soft and gentle voice. "I thank you for accepting this mission, and I hope that it isn't too much trouble."

"Not at all, hime-sama. Are you three ready?"

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Then, if Hitsumi-sama wishes, we shall set out immediately."

The princess nodded. "My carriage and escort are waiting at the inn across the street."

"Excellent. We can cover a good amount of ground before the sun sets so lets get going." Harry looked at the woman. "Please lead the way."

"Hai." She took small, dainty steps, the hems of her numerous layers of clothes dragging slightly after her, the decorations in her long, brown hair tinkling softly as she walked.

'_What an unusual princess,' _Harry thought as he followed her. _'Despite the fact that she acts completely submissive and like a royal woman should, she didn't have an escort when meeting with the Hokage. I don't remember seeing one waiting outside the office either. A princess like her isn't supposed to go anywhere without at least one servant. Huh, this mission might actually turn out interesting.'_

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were following the green-eyed man, their gazes either focused on him or on the princess that walked a few steps further ahead. Sakura was wondering almost absentmindedly where the princess got her clothes made, that red one would look good on Sakura. Sasuke and Naruto, on the other hand, didn't know whether to be overjoyed or have a nervous break down. Sure they had both trained with Harry before, but never had they gone on missions with the man, and they hadn't been chunnin at that point either. They both knew that their performance on this mission would decide whether they kept their newly-earned chunnin rank, or if they would go back to being gennin. Harry was the judge of that, and they already knew just how strict he could be. Heck, they were sure that the green-eyed man would be ever stricter than usual seeing as the people involved were much more than vague acquaintances.

"Sasuke," Naruto began. "I have a bad feeling about this mission, but I can't figure out if it's premonition or if it's because Harry-nii-san is here."

The young Uchiha nodded. "I understand. But, despite it all, I am excited as well. I've listened to Itachi-nii-san so many times when he talks about his missions with Harry, and I am eager to see his skills for myself."

"What do you think, Sakura-chan?"

The girl blinked slightly, then donned a thoughtful frown. "It's going to be very difficult." She said finally. "A princess out travelling is bound to attract a great deal of attention. But add into the mix a famous ANBU Squad Commander that is also the grandson of the Snake Sannin, and it suddenly becomes a recipe for disaster."

The three teenagers suddenly looked very blue.

"This isn't a C-class mission, is it?" Naruto wondered even though all of them knew the answer. "It's suddenly become B- or A-class."

"And the pathetic thing is that it's not the customer's fault, but one of our own ninja," Sasuke pointed out. "Our own shinobi aren't supposed to add to the danger, but decrease it!"

"It's an oxymoron." Sakura nodded.

Harry, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, snickered quietly. Yep, this mission wasn't going to be all that boring after all.

-x-x-x-x-

There, please tell me what you think.

I am sorry about the long absence, and all I can say is to blame it on school.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. Harry's current age is 35 going on 36. As for ships, well, I'm not sure. I've got some ideas and all, but I think I'll focus on non-romantic stuff and add the romantic stuff later if enough people want it – perhaps as an extra chapter or something.

On another note I'm about to partake in my very first cosplay convention, and I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun!

Thanks to:

kerricarri, Wolven Spirits, Adnexus, Peacebunnie, Krows Scared, firmin, OmniscientOne, NamelessHeretic, azilla, dark672, The Insane Imortal Dragon, BasicallyAnIdiot, TheWiseSirIvanTheShadowLord, Lady Threarah, Curz-Shadow Kitsune, Honebar, Nawaki no Shinobi, Z-AKA Andrea-, Julian Snape, JakeTheSheepy, Shinobi's Fire, Beta the Second, Morrolan, lildevil425, Tombadgerlock, Cheery Wolf, Pwn Master Paladin, Kingdark, Knives, Sumarra, Regress13, kirallie, AceZ-Shadow, geniosity, QueenOfHalf-BakedIdeas, aledeth, Chibi of Many Names, Ava, Chosha Kurenai, henriette, FireAngel8723, LazarOfTheWind, magicgirl45852, darksinX09, MysticMaiden 18, gimiki, momocolady, Fayr Warning, Nevermore, and Marz1.


	30. Chapter 30

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and JK Rowling.

**Author's Note:** Desucon was very fun! I came at third place in the cosplay competition, and got lots and lots of pocky! Yay for pocky! On another note, this story has something to celebrate as well. It has reached the great, big 3 and 0!!!! Everyone rejoice!!!!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Thirty (can hardly believe it!)**

Apart from the occasional order to Sakura (because she was still a gennin) and suggestion to Sasuke and Naruto – they were chunnin now and could freely choose whether or not to follow said advice, heck, he even threw in a few bad advices just to test them! – Harry spent the day observing everything. Sakura was well on her way to become a good ninja, but she still lacked the independence that would make her a chunnin. Sasuke and Naruto were doing very well, often conferring with each other before making a decision, or presenting Harry with a suggestion. The princess and her entourage, however, were the most interesting subjects to scrutiny.

For a princess' personal entourage the group was surprisingly small; and most worrisome was the large lack of experienced guards. The few guards that accompanied the girl were barely out of their diapers, and stared wide-eyed and amazed at the four shinobi. It was clear as crystal that they had never been in a real fight before, let along a fight with shinobi, and one couldn't trust them in battle until it was clear what they were capable of and if they would stay and fight, or run for their lives. It happened to everyone, even young shinobi, when the wake-up call of real life came, so it would be no surprise if it happened, but it was down right stupid to set off through foreign lands without experienced guards.

And if that wasn't enough, then the servants that accompanied them were all over fifty. They weren't trained in self-defence, they were slow and soft, and since most of them were old women that had hardly stepped outside the castle before, and had been raised to tend to a princess, then it was clear that there wouldn't be much help from them either when a fight did break out. To set off with such a useless entourage was down right stupid!

'_It's no wonder the princess' father hired us to bring her safely to her destination.'_ The green-eyed man thought, his gaze slowly drifting to the princess herself. _'What an annoying little brat. She didn't know her father hired us, and she definitely doesn't want us here. Which means that she is planning something, and that will cause us so much needless trouble. How annoying.'_

Hitsumi-sama was weird. She walked beside her carriage until she got tired, and only then would she enter the carriage. She was adamant about her servants not pampering her too much, and only when she got tired from walking. Even though she walked longer distances than one would expect from a royal, they had to take frequent and long rests, and to the four shinobi – especially Harry – they were travelling at a snail's pace. The princess also asked many questions about the life of a normal commoner, whilst trying not to be obvious about it all. However, she had picked very bad people to ask questions of. Her servants were mostly like her and had hardly exited the castle before, while the shinobi were hardly ordinary in any way.

'_Her poor endurance and her numerous questions point to the fact that it's all newly-attained curiosity and rebelliousness,'_ Harry surmised, then sighed. _'Why are most royals so incredibly troublesome?'_

"The princess is planning something," Sasuke said that evening when they had put up camp. The princess was safely enclosed in a large, tall, colourful tent that the servants and guards had put up, and most of the female servants were with her, all of them sitting comfortably on silk pillows and whatnots. The guards and the shinobi had to fend for themselves outside, the young guards hardly daring to approach the four ninja, and it had taken a very annoyed Harry barking at them to get to patrolling the area and posting out sentries for them to actually do it.

"Why do you think that, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. She didn't doubt her team-mate, but wanted to know if his reasoning was the same as hers.

"The way she is acting," Naruto said. "And the lack of useful guards and servants."

Sasuke nodded. "But I can't figure out exactly why she acts like this. We are only escorting her to the Hidden Mist Village, not to her execution."

The three fell into a thoughtful silence.

Harry, who was standing outside the warm circle the campfire provided, now stepped into the light, almost seeming to melt out of the shadows, and sending a few patrolling guards nearby hurrying off. "Figures that Tsunade neglected to tell you why we are escorting the princess." He said as he crouched down between Naruto and Sasuke.

The teenagers looked at him.

"What do you mean, Harry-nii… er… Harry-san… Harry-sensei… what the hell am I supposed to call you?!" Naruto asked.

"Harry-san or Harry-sensei will do fine, whichever you feel most comfortable with, Naruto."

"Right, Harry-sensei." The blond nodded. "Now, why would Tsunade-obaa-san forget to inform us?"

"Probably because she already informed me, and counted on that being enough. The old hag." The green-eyed man sighed. "Here's the deal: we are escorting Hitsumi-hime to the Hidden Mist Village, because she is getting married off to a young local lord, Misaki-dono. Now, the princess isn't supposed to know about the arranged marriage, and is to think that this is merely a trip sponsored by her parents to visit a different country, and learn from them. She was set to live with Misaki-dono while in Mist, and if they accidentally fell in love then all the better. However, as we can deduce by her behaviour, Hitsumi-hime knows about the marriage, and is quite set on not going through with it."

Sakura frowned. "But why would a princess act like that? I mean, doesn't she realise that a war can break out between the Country of Fire and the Country of Water if she refuses this marriage?"

"Think of it this way," Harry met their eyes to make sure that he had their attention. "You are a princess, the youngest of seven children. Your sisters have made good marriages, and your brothers are successful and have married well too. Your parents are happy with this, and as their last and youngest child they pamper you, and let you run free, and there isn't much pressure on you to do well because all your siblings are upholding the family honour. Are you with me so far?"

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura nodded, their faces serious in the firelight.

"Good. Now, suddenly one day you are told that you have an arranged marriage to some unknown lord, way off in an unknown new land. You haven't met this lord before, probably never even heard of him before, and everything is new and frightening and different. So, what would you, as a spoiled little princess, do when all your dreams and hopes of the future are threatened in this way?" he raised an eyebrow.

"She's going to try to escape," Naruto spoke up first. "That's why her entourage is so badly put together, and that's why she spends most of the day glaring at us while pretending not to. She also asks a lot of questions about the daily life of a commoner in an attempt to give herself a better chance at fitting in once she does escape, right?"

Sasuke nodded and continued the reasoning. "But with us four shinobi here, the stakes have been raised. She knows that she has no chance of escaping from us without outside help, which means that she will make contact with some missing-nin in one of the towns we visit. The closer to the border to Water Country we get, the more desperate, foolish and reckless Hitsumi-sama's actions will get."

"But then the nuke-nin will double-cross her, and kidnap her and demand a ransom, which – in turn – means a lot more work for us." Sakura finished the train of thought, and all three looked at Harry to see if they were correct.

The green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander smirked. "Excellent deductions, brats, and completely correct as well."

"But…" she started, but trailed off.

"But what?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"But what if this Misaki-dono is abusive, and bad, and…and the princess knows this?" Sakura rushed the words out. As a girl, she knew somewhat how it would feel and all, and her own grandparents had been on the verge of arranging a marriage for her. They would have succeeded if her parents hadn't put their foot down, and she felt it was her duty to bring up this side of the case.

"Sakura-chan has a point." Naruto muttered hesitantly, and Sasuke nodded.

"As shinobi we only do what we are told to, and do not get involved in the personal lives of our clients. All three of you know this!" Harry's voice was sharp and rebuking, but then the man softened slightly. "It is correct of you to try to think about everything, no matter what. Details like these can mean the difference between the failure and success of a mission. Luckily for you I can tell you that Misaki-dono is a wonderful young man that studied under me for a while several years ago, and if he hasn't done a complete 180 degree change since then, he should still be a very kind and gentle man. However, for future reference, keep personal feelings and thoughts out of it, and just do your job."

The three teenagers were clearly thinking carefully over everything.

"The life of a shinobi is though," Harry continued. "You can be ordered to murder an entire family – down to the very last child – just because they said something that some self-righteous fool considered insulting, and you will have to do it regardless of personal feelings because that is what you were hired to do. We are weapons, and the only feelings we are in theory allowed to show is our never-ending loyalty to our village, and through this our client. If you don't think you can handle such conditions but still want to be a shinobi, then you have a few other options. You can become a chunnin and teach at the academy, or you can work in the administration at the Hokage Tower. If you are of the more ambitious sort, you can become a healer-nin, however, you still aren't guaranteed relief from such missions. The only other choice is to quit being ninja, and become a normal civilian. Think carefully about this choice."

"How can we learn not to let such things affect us?" Sakura asked after a while.

Harry's face bore a humourless smile when he replied. "You can't. You can never get rid of your feelings entirely no matter how hard you try. Feelings are what makes us human, and are our most valuable asset."

"So what you say is that even people like Orochimaru and the Akatsuki have feelings?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, and the green-eyed man nodded. "Well then, they go to incredible lengths to hide that fact."

"Orochimaru desires and lusts for all the jutsu-knowledge of this world, doesn't he? And the Akatsuki desires the power of the nine demons for some reason, but it is still a feeling. No matter how you turn it feelings will always be involved, and I for one am glad. It would have been a sad life without feelings." The ANBU Squad Commander gave the teens a minute to digest all this, before he moved on to a lighter topic. "Now, we need to decide what to do with our rebellious hime…" he trailed off and let the sentence hang, waiting for someone else to pick up.

"I'm a girl," Sakura said, pointing out the obvious. "I'll stay with her for the most time, and try to get close to her. Talk about womanly stuff and all that."

Naruto nodded. "Good. Sasuke and I and Harry-ni-… Harry-sensei will take care of the guarding."

"I'll take the first watch and Naruto the graveyard watch," Sasuke said. "You have more stamina than me, Naruto, so it's easier for you to be awake for half the night and the entire next day."

"You brats forget me," Harry smirked. "Although I am here mostly to observe, I am still the team leader. Now, Sakura – as you said – you will get close to the girl. Unless anything else is said, Sasuke will take the first watch and Naruto will have the graveyard watch. I'll take the middle watch, and I'll organise those _pups_ that the princess brought with her as guards. I'll disappear suddenly now and then, but I will always let you know when and approximately for how long. If you need anything, do not hesitate to come and ask. I may or may not answer or help, but you never know until you ask. Everyone understand?"

The three teens nodded. "Hai, Harry-sensei."

"Well then, get going to your positions!"

-x-x-x-x-

"Wake up, Naruto. It's your watch." Harry shook the blond boy, and received a groan in return before Naruto's blue eyes blinked open and the boy sat up and stretched. "You need to wake up faster than that, Naruto. If I'd been an enemy, then you would've been dead by now. There's a bit of a pick-me-up waiting for you by the fire."

Naruto yawned and stumbled over to the bonfire, pouring some lukewarm water into a plastic cup and adding some tealeaves. He pulled out a ration bar whilst the tea was getting ready, and ate it. Fifteen minutes later the blond was as awake as anyone could be so early in the morning, and jumped into the tree where Harry had settled down.

"Aren't you going to sleep, Harry?" the blond asked.

"Not this time, Naruto. I can stand to go without sleep for longer periods of time than you." The green-eyed man replied, his eyes closed but his senses on full alert. Some shifting to his left told him that Naruto was still there. "Anything bothering you, brat?"

"Ano… what you said earlier… um…"

"I said a lot of things earlier, Naruto, and I'm not a mind reader despite what you might have heard. You will have to specify a bit on this."

"About killing a family down to the very last baby…" Naruto trailed off again, and Harry opened his eyes and focused them on the boy. "H-have you done those things?"

The ANBU Squad Commander sighed. "I am not a saint, brat. I've done lots of things that I am not proud of, and that I would rather forget, but such is the life of a shinobi. I told you this when you first entered the Academy."

"Yes, I remember. But I don't think I understood even half of it until now, and I probably won't understand it completely until I have to go through it myself," the demon-container plucked on his sleeve.

"So you mean to continue being a shinobi?"

"Of course! I said that I would become a Hokage one day, and one day I will. It's my ninja way! And to be a good Hokage I need to know and understand what my subjects are going through, which means that I first have to go through it myself."

"It will be a very long road then. Only the best of the elite jounnin get such missions, and if you are an elite jounnin then you're halfway to becoming an ANBU. This means that there will be at the least ten years before you can realise your dream, brat. Can you hold out for so long?"

Naruto nodded, his eyes full of determination, stubbornness and fire. "As long as it takes."

Harry stared at the boy from the corner of his eye, and couldn't help but smile. _'He has grown from an annoying brat into a fine teen. Arashi, old friend, your son does you proud.'_

"Ne, Harry-nii-san?"

"Hmm?"

"If shinobi aren't allowed to show any other emotion than loyalty, then when do we have the chance to simply be human?"

"That is only in theory, Naruto. And besides, you are always human, you can't ignore that. Therefore you do what you must, whether it be to cry over having killed or laughing in joy over having survived. Everyone does it at some point. Even I have bawled my eyes out at several points, or drunk myself into a stupor, but only when I'm in Konoha where I know that I am safe and that I can relax enough to let it all go. It's not good to bottle everything up, Naruto, and whenever you need a shoulder to cry on I'll be there – and so will the rest of the Angsters Anonymous."

Naruto laughed slightly, then turned serious again. "You've been in the ANBU for as long as I can remember, and in school they told us that the average period of service for an ANBU was five years. How come? How do you deal with it?"

"It's true that the average period is five years, and some people quit before that – whether forcefully or willingly. If you want to stay after those five years are over, you have to go through a physical and psychological test each year, often more than once. They let Morino Ibiki take the reigns completely and have a go at you, and it's not fun I can tell you that. People crack often under those examinations, and that's why we have so many wacky shinobi in every hidden village. It's their way of dealing with things. Kakashi reads porn, Manji plays paparazzi, Itachi broods and gorges himself on red and green dango, Maito Gai… well… that entire situation kind of speaks for itself. Me? You can say that I'm something of a special case."

"Special case? You don't seem to have any weird habits or quirks."

"Don't worry, Naruto, I'm as insane as everyone else – most likely even _more_ insane than most people. I simply can't let it show until everything is over, and that won't be for another while yet. Besides, I have my quirks. I watch all kinds of anime all the time in my free time, if you remember. And I visit that temple now and then."

"Everyone visits a temple at least once in their lifetime," Naruto protested with a pout. "And I thought you watched those anime because I liked them."

"At first yes, but then I found it to be an excellent way of escaping reality. _'One Piece'_ really is wonderful!"

"Nii-san!"

Harry chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair. "Brat."

They sat in a comfortable silence for another while, before Naruto spoke up again. "You said that you couldn't go wacky until everything was over. What did you mean by that, Harry-nii-san?" blue eyes blinked curiously at the older man.

"Two shinobi in the same tree are easier to spot than one shinobi in one tree." Harry simply replied, ignoring the question, and jumped into another tree at the other side of the clearing where they had made camp. Naruto didn't know about his spying, nor did he know about Voldemort – none of Naruto's generation did, and only very few in the entire village knew. There had been more, but they had died over the years, and Harry could count the number of those who knew and who were alive on one hand – this is when you ignored everyone in the Order of the Phoenix and the DA, of course. _'My list of allies in Konoha grows thin.'_

-x-x-x-x-

Hitsumi-hime could be summarised in three simple words: very, _very_ annoying. Her attempts at being subtle would have worked amongst royals, and tricked all of her personal entourage, but it simply grated on the nerves of the four shinobi. Her acting skills were good enough to fool royals, but not even close to fooling even the lowest of shinobi. Her questions about everything she saw could have been credited to curiosity, were it not for the fact that she 'secretly' wrote everything down in a notebook – not unlike the way Rock Lee wrote down Maito Gai's speeches about the power of youth and whatnot. All in all, the four shinobi were – as said – getting very, very, very annoyed.

"What a spoiled, little brat," Sakura said one evening, and coming from her that was heavy criticism. "She spends more time to get herself presentable than even Ino and I combined! She tries to be a tomboy, but needs a manicure every night before bed. She wants to blend in with commoners, but seems to be unable to get rid of her royal manners. It's frustrating."

"Her questions are about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face." Naruto muttered with a pout. Once again that was heavy criticism, because Naruto wasn't the most subtle of people either.

"If I hear even one more question about the life of a commoner – questions that I have answered at least three times before – then I'll stick my kunai through her throat." Sasuke growled, his not-quite-developed sharingan making his eyes blood red.

Harry chuckled, completely amused by the entire situation. Sure, the princess annoyed him as well, but he could deal with it much better than the three teens, and he could also see the humour in the situation. _'Yare, yare (my, my)… I just knew that this mission would be interesting.'_

The green-eyed man was sitting on a branch right above the camp itself, and there he had the perfect lookout. He could see everything that went on, every single guard and every single servant, and no one could see him. He praised himself lucky for this when his communication medallion suddenly turned warm, indicating an incoming message. No one could see him bring the medallion out from underneath his vest and shirt, nor could they see him open it and take out a piece of paper that was decorated with lots of dots and lines.

The message was, surprisingly, from Jiraiya. The Toad Hermit had never gotten comfortable with using the communication medallions, and rarely did it. Which meant that it whatever he wanted to say had to be very important.

'**My contracts had spots snake-chan snakelets coming hard for you stops'** was the message.

Harry blinked, then wished he had Jiraiya here in order to hit the old man over the head. The guy really needed to have a crash-course in Morse code and the use of communication medallions. And he needed to learn to _NOT_ make everything sound like a sexual connotation, dammit!

After decoding the message, Harry finally figured out that Jiraiya's contacts had reported that Orochimaru had sent the Sound Five – now four – to get Harry and drag him back to the snake's lair. The green-eyed man's eyebrow twitched dangerously as he sent a message back to the old super-pervert, demanding to know just where the pursuers from Sound were. The reply he got was just as bad as the first message.

'**Five days north butt north-lust stopps'**

This was, apparently, supposed to mean that the pursuers were five days away, north by north-west.

'_I'm going to need serious counselling once this is over.'_ Harry thought, trying to keep himself from hunting down Jiraiya and beating the Toad Hermit senseless. Harry was already scarred for life by Orochimaru, he didn't need Jiraiya adding to that! _'I swear he does that on purpose! He's too good a shinobi not to. Damn the old perverted bastard!'_

Everyone looked up when the green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander suddenly dropped amidst them. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had at some point been joined by the princess herself, and a couple of her ladies in waiting/servants/whatever you wanted to call them. They practically jumped out of their seats when Harry suddenly appeared, but the three teens simply looked up curiously.

"Anything wrong, Harry-sensei?" Sakura asked.'

"Not really," Harry replied. "I just got a message from Konoha, and I've got something to do, so I'll be gone for about a week more or less."

They would have had to be completely blind not to see the way Hitsumi-sama's face lit up at those news, but none of the shinobi drew attention to it.

"Anything we can help with?" Naruto asked.

"No, just keep things in order here, and do your job. Naruto and Sasuke, you will have to share the duties of leadership, and Sakura, you have to listen to them. Got it?"

"Hai, Harry-sensei!" the three nodded, and did a short salute.

"Brats." Harry grumbled with a smirk, then disappeared just as quickly, suddenly and silently as he had appeared. _'The princess will undoubtedly use this chance to put her own plans of escape into actions, which means that I can expect a certain amount of trouble and chaos by the time I return. How troublesome.' _

Harry jumped through the trees, relishing the speeds he could achieve and the wind on his face. He passed a heard of skittish deer, but they didn't even notice that he had been there. He landed right beside an eagles nest at one point, but was gone before the mother-eagle could turn to investigate the disturbance. He passed right through a group of travellers and they were none the wiser, all they had felt was a slight breeze. It was a small game of his when travelling, and not only did it hone his skills but he enjoyed it as well. A day and a half's travel later, he could feel the approaching charkas of Kidoumaru, Jiroubu, Sakon-Ukon, and Tonks, and smirked in delight.

'_Now, it's time to focus on the approaching enemy. Orochimaru is about to lose another four minions, and Tonks is about to go home. I hope Remus doesn't mind the slight delay. This is going to be a good day.' _

He landed in a clearing and got ready. It didn't take too long before the four Sound shinobi appeared before him, and his smirk widened. Unknown to Harry this made him seem dark and somewhat unhinged, and his relations to Orochimaru came through clearly. The four new arrivals couldn't help but shudder at that look. They had all become so used to seeing Harry's wolf-shaped ANBU mask, that they had almost forgotten exactly what he looked like underneath.

"Oi! Why didn't you come when Orochimaru-sama called, Harry-sama?" Kidoumaru was the first to break the silence.

"I sent Orochimaru-sama a messenger snake." Harry replied, that same smirk still on his face. It was freaking the others out. "You mean to tell me that he didn't get it?"

"Of course he didn't, you bastard!" Tonks spoke up. "Otherwise we wouldn't be here, now would we, fucker?!"

"Tayuya, don't curse!" The fat Jiroubu shook his head. "Orochimaru-sama got nothing. And neither did Kabuto-san."

"Indeed."

"Lets stop wasting time. Orochimaru-sama is waiting." Kidoumaru jumped into the closest tree. "Come on!"

'_First victim: Sakon-Ukon. With their ability to attach themselves to their victim's body they are the most dangerous.' _Harry watched as the others followed, and did the same – making sure that he got behind them – whilst withdrawing his weapon of choice. _'Fuuma shuriken! Fly!'_

-x-x-x-x-

There, please tell me what you think. Long chapter, ne?

You know, originally the princess was supposed to be kind, good, beautiful, you know, the works. But then I thought about it, and decided that that would be very boring. .

Someone asked me why Harry simply didn't use a strong _Imperius_ on Tayuya. Well, there are two reasons as far as I can see. 1) it wouldn't make for a good plot, and 2) Tayuya would eventually start fighting it, and then overcome it, and then everything would be shot to hell. Besides, Harry has enough things to focus his mind on, and doesn't need anything else.

Whoever said that Harry remained celibate for the past twenty plus years?!?!?!! People, he's a 35 year old _male_ shinobi! There's no way that he's still a virgin. And I never said that he didn't have any flings or anything, I just don't focus on that! And I never said that I hadn't fallen in love! This is why I am more or less certain that I will do extra chapters once the story is over. Some to clear some things up, some to add a couple of scenes that didn't make it into the story, and – of course – Harry's love. It's more or less determined what will happen when it comes to that, so all you can do is wait for it.

The horcrux wasn't forgotten, per se, but was simply on the backburner. Besides, it will take Tsunade a long time to go through the notes of both the Yondaime and the Sandaime, so Harry won't get it yet. But soon! … The readers know this story better than I do! Wah! Pathetic! -.-'

This is a totally original happening. There is nothing like this in a Naruto-movie or any of the episodes. And it's not a filler, as you might understand by now. It's a part of the plot. ::nods::

Thanks to:

BasicallyAnIdiot, nantukoprime, Insane Imortal Dragon Goddess, Meemei, Angranse, kirallie, Yami no Hikari-Chan, Lady Threarah, Shinobi's Fire, kobisaki, Ashamedbypastfic, glorfy, naru chan30654, Boudicca Aturia, Morissa, Janniyah, Chosha Kurenai, Gasanechi, Curlz-Shadow Kitsune, angelsdawn1004, NamelessHeretic, Adnexus, dark672, Mala Suerte, HateFilled-Demon, momocolady, magerm, azillia, Pwn Master Paladin, Really Frozen Phoenix, Lucifer's Following, Lemo, AceZ-Shadow, Kingdark, fish, Storm Master Tempest, Vorax, LazarOfTheWind, Knives, Z-AKA Andrea-, Rinzei86, Morrolan, muto shizuka, gaul1, kerricarri, Honebar, Chibi of Many Names, gahtzuah, JulesInTheSea, Nat Bumblebee, RobotPirateNinja, XinnLajgin, 2stupid, terriestal-angell, and CRaZY TeDDy.


	31. Chapter 31

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note: **It' been a long time, hasn't it? Sorry about that. School et all got in the way. Enjoy!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Thirty-One**

Silent and deadly, the Fuuma shuriken flew true. Sakon-Ukon's only warning of the rapidly approaching danger came far too late, and Ukon – who was fast asleep – really had no idea what hit him and parted his head from Sakon's body. The only reason that Sakon actually managed to get away, was that the Fuuma shuriken had sliced through a leaf right before it hit its target. However, he didn't get very far, and had only taken a couple of steps away before the second shuriken sliced straight through his torso. The spray of blood and the two shuriken embedding themselves in tree trunks alerted the other three Otonin, and they skidded to a halt, looking around wildly for the attacker.

Harry landed on a branch not too far from where Sakon-Ukon had met their end, and watched with morbid amusement as Kidoumaru, Jiroubu and Tayuya/Tonks looked around for the enemy, realised that there was no enemy, and then finally turned to him, their eyes wide and shock and surprise as they understood exactly who had killed their companion.

"You… what… _why_?!" Kidoumaru finally managed to stutter out, his eyes narrowing in anger.

"What is the meaning if this, Harry-sama?" Jiroubu asked, remaining remarkably calm for the situation.

Tayuya/Tonks simply stared in shock, a small candle of hope igniting in her chest. Harry had often said that when the time came for her to return to the Wizarding World, then she would receive a sign that she couldn't misunderstand. Night upon night had she dreamed of this, had hoped, had wanted with all of her heart to go back home and to Remus. Might this actually be it?

The green-eyed man smirked darkly, flicking off some blood that had landed on his face. "You people are really annoying."

Kidoumaru nearly gaped. "That's no reason to kill your own allies, you stupid idiot!!!!" he shouted.

Jiroubu was _this_ close to rolling his eyes at his partner's stupidity, but his eyes never left from Harry. "I don't think that's what he means. He's a traitor to Orochimaru-sama."

"I never said that I was loyal to Orochimaru in the first place," Harry told them while readying himself for the upcoming fight. "You simply assumed."

Kidoumaru and Jiroubu growled almost in unison, then started fanning out while drawing their weapons.

"So that's how it is," the Spider Summoner scoffed. "All those years in Orochimaru-sama's service were just for you to reach your own goals. So, how much did Konoha pay for your loyalty? When did they contact you?"

Harry neglected to answer these questions, and instead shot a look at the only woman in their midst. "It's time for you to go home, Tonks." He said simply, and almost smiled when the small candle of hope in her eyes suddenly turned into a raging inferno, making her eyes glitter in a way that they hadn't for years.

"Tonks? What the hell are you talking about? Tayuya, do you kno-" Kidoumaru parroted, then turned to the person he had so far known as Tayuya. But he broke off in the middle upon seeing the well-known visage of Tayuya literally melting into the face and body of a completely different woman that he had never seen before. Both his and Jiroubu's eyes grew wide again, and they started realising just how thorough Harry's traitorous work was. Tayuya had, after all, been the first person of the Sound Five that the green-eyed man had picked up. It suddenly made so much sense.

"You bastard." Kidoumaru growled angrily. He knew that he didn't have much chance against Harry at his current level, therefore his Curse Seal started spreading rapidly, the swirl-y design being rather pretty despite its purpose. His skin went dark, his hair grew white and long, and the third eye on his forehead opened.

Harry observed this transformation calmly, ignoring Jiroubu who was going through the same thing as Kidoumaru, and he took the time to send a quick order to Tonks before he attacked. "You deal with Jiroubu. I'll help as soon as I squash this bug."

Tonks nodded and activated her own Curse Seal. "Leave it to me."

"Oh, and one more thing, Tonks. You have permission to go full out and use any power you might need to defeat him." With that being said, the ANBU Squad Commander focused on Kidoumaru. "Unfortunately I used up all my bug spray a week ago, so I will have to get physical." He smirked tauntingly at the spider-like man. He knew exactly how to get under the other's skin, and he knew exactly how the man worked. After all, he had spent the past years analysing them all, knowing that one day he would have to kill them.

"I'll kill you!" Kidoumaru growled, his mouth starting to chew quickly on the web-material that formed from liquid and chakra.

"We shall see," was Harry's only reply to this. His attention was totally focused on his opponent, and he completely ignored the rather violent fight between Tonks and Jiroubu that was going on somewhere to his right. When Kidoumaru made the first move and spat out many large, sticky, white webs at a fast speed, Harry was ready for it and easily avoided them. He returned the attack with a well places Katon-jutsu that burned the webs, and forced Kidoumaru to jump away to the left.

The spider-like man chewed out another amount of web-material, but this time it was a sand-like colour, and hard as any metal. This he formed into several kunai, and his six hands started throwing and throwing. "**Kumo Nenkin!**" _(Spider Sticky Gold!)_

Harry had to jump about for the next couple of minutes to avoid these attacks, but he wasn't worried at all. However, he knew that he had to end this fight quickly. There were several reasons for this. First of all, he needed to get back to Team Seven and the annoying princess. Secondly, he and Jiraiya had brought in Tsunade into this, and she would send a group of Hunter-nin to get rid of the bodies and to make it seem like the Hunter-nin had come across Harry and the Sound Four, hereby hopefully hindering Orochimaru in killing Harry. And thirdly, Orochimaru's spies were all over the place, and they would report everything to their master.

"**Kumo Shibari!**" _(Spider Bind!)_

When Kidoumaru's next spit-web-attack came, Harry allowed one of the webs to catch him in the arm, pinning him to a tree for a moment before he got free again. Over and over he repeated this while throwing his own attacks, easily leading Kidoumaru into the trap. Kidoumaru might be an excellent tactician and analyst and whatnot, but Harry was an ANBU Squad Commander, and the spider-like man was and never would be nowhere even close – even with the Curse Seal fully active. The Seal gave him strength and speed, but not brains.

"Gotcha!" Kidoumaru panted as one of his webs finally caught the elusive green-eyed man, pinning him firmly to a sturdy tree, and giving him no chance of escape. It had taken much longer than Kidoumaru had expected, but then again, this was Orochimaru-sama's traitorous grandson so it wasn't such a big surprise. He sneered as he prepared his next and final attack. "All those years with Konoha has made you weak, Harry. You aren't worthy of being Orochimaru-sama's grandson or his next Body. You are a pitiful character."

Harry ignored all this talk. It was Kidoumaru's usual way of wearing down an opponent mentally before killing the victim, but it had no effect on the one who had used the same strategy more than once, and had actually taught it to the spider-like man. Instead, Harry simply waited for the opportune moment to strike out and in one move kill the other man. The man who didn't realise that Harry had been caught far too quickly and simply for an ANBU Squad Commander.

Kidoumaru did his best to ignore the cold, emotionless green eyes that followed his every move, and focused on what he was doing. Up until now Harry's speed and attacks had kept him from utilizing his greatest technique, but now that the traitor was finally caught and wasn't going anywhere, he had the time and the peace of mind to do this. He formed a bit of web between two of his hands, and with a third he performed the technique. "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Spider Queen!**" _(Summon: Spider Queen!)_

As with all summons the following cloud that formed was enormous, and once it cleared Harry could see what had happened. There was a large new web above him, and in the middle of the web sat a gigantic, black-and-orange spider that was at least three times bigger than Aragog ever had been. Kidoumaru sat atop the spider, a triumphant grin on his face. As far as he was concerned Harry was done for. No one had escaped from his spider-queen, and it was unlikely that Harry – despite his numerous skills – would be the first.

The giant spider was giving birth to a large cocoon filled with millions of baby-spiders. At any moment Kidoumaru could cut it open, and these small spiders would fall all around their victim, their threads covering the person all over and thusly binding them completely. Kidoumaru began to lower himself on a thread of web, reminding the green-eyed man for a moment about the Marvel comic character Spiderman.

"Are you scared yet?" the spider-like man smirked. He was now hanging upside down and face to face with the captured Harry, completely confident in the web that was holding the green-eyed man.

'_The opportune moment has arrived,'_ Harry thought, a smirk lifting the corner of his lips. With a quick movement of his wrist – which wasn't caught by the web – and his wand was resting in his hand. He pointed it at himself, just above his chest, and silently did one of the few spells that Snape had ever taught him. _'Sectumsempra!'_

The spell easily cut through the sticky white web, and Harry was on Kidoumaru before the man could get over his surprise. Grabbing the spider-man's neck Harry pushed off the tree with the help of chakra, and together they crashed into the ground, creating a small crater. Kidoumaru – who had taken the brunt of it – coughed and gasped as he tried to get air into his lungs again, but it wasn't easy with Harry choking him.

Harry pointed his wand at Kidoumaru, and performed his next spell emotionlessly. "_Reducto_."

Kidoumaru really had no chance.

The green-eyed man sighed and got up. He brushed his clothes off, removing the last bits of sticky web, and noticing that the _Sectumsempra_ had also cut the pockets of his green flak-jacket. He looked around, and spotted a panting and gasping Tonks leaning against a tree. Jiroubu's corpse laid a few feet away.

The Sound Elite were no more.

Harry walked over to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Tonks?"

"I'm… I'm fine …" she panted. "Jiroubu just sucked some of… of my chakra. Wh-what can I do for you, Harry-sama?"

"Tonks, it's over. There's no need to call me that now." He smiled at her. "Get going."

She blinked as if being surprised. "Huh?"

"It's over, your part in all of this is finished."

"…"

"Remus is waiting for you."

"I-"

"Go home, Tonks." Harry couldn't help but smile.

"B-but-"

He chuckled. "Get yourself into gear, you stubborn woman! They are expecting you at #12 Grimmauld Place!" he gave her a small push. "Go!"

She simply stared at him for a while, as if trying to find out if it was all a cruel joke, but then she seemed to find whatever she was looking for, and her face lit up again. With a happy cry she gave Harry a fierce hug, then was off like a shot towards the Gate to the Wizarding World, her laughter ringing through the trees. She didn't look back even once.

Harry stared after her for a while, slightly jealous, but shook himself out of his thoughts, and waited for the arrival of the Hunter-nins. While waiting he got rid of the giant spider-queen and her millions of children. The Hunter-nin arrived two hours later, and after a quick exchange of words, both the Hunter-nin and Harry were off.

'_I wonder what happened with the brats and the annoying princess while I was gone.'_

-x-x-x-x-

"What the _hell_ happened here?!" Harry roared.

It had taken him three days to catch up with the princess and her companions, and right now he was looking at a camp that was totally destroyed. The large tent was ripped to shreds, fine silk pillows were strewn everywhere, weapons were embedded in the trees and in the ground, and there were numerous signs of powerful techniques having been used. The guards were dead, as were the servants from what he could see, and there was no sign of the princess nor Team Seven.

'_I expected the little princess to cause trouble, but this is a bit too much even for someone like her.'_ He sighed and started to go through the camp in search of clues. He shifted through pillows, clothes, weapons, pots, pans, bedding, bushes and the dead bodies of young soldiers and old servants, and slowly it became clear what had happened.

The group had been attacked by high-classed shinobi, probably by several of high jounnin-rank. The evidence to support this theory were the numerous signs of jutsu that had been used. He easily identified most of those as techniques that neither Naruto nor Sasuke could perform – at least not to such a degree of perfection – and Naruto and Sasuke didn't even know some of the techniques that he found evidence of.

'_Who the devil attacked them?'_ the green-eyed man wondered as he walked about. _'There are no reports of nuke-nin of such a rank in this area of Fire Country, and the Hunter-nin would've warned me if something was up. Hey, that shawl belonged to the princess, didn't it?'_

He picked up the almost-see-through material, and examined the thick group of bushes that the material had been caught in. At first he didn't see anything special, but then noticed a barely-there footprint hidden in the middle of the bushes, and raised an eyebrow. By the size of the footprint, the shape of the shoe and how deep it was, he could deduce that it had been a young woman – i.e. the princess herself – that passed through this cluster of bushes. Someone had gone to great lengths to ensure that she wouldn't be followed – although whether they succeeded or not he still had to find out.

Harry followed the tracks for quite a ways into the forest before he came across a tall tree with a hollowed out trunk, the entrance having recently been blocked by a bush. As he got closer he could hear the harsh breathing of a terrified person, even though said person tried to block the sounds, and he quickly kicked the bush out of the way and bent down to see exactly who was hidden.

"And a good day to you, Hitsumi-sama," he said to the pale young woman. "Would you mind getting out of that trunk?"

The girl shook her head, her hair no longer in an elegant bun, but hanging all over the place. Her body starting to shake, she pressed herself even further into the hollow. "…N-n-no… y-you cou-could b-be one o-of… of _them_…"

'_Great Scott, she's actually learned something in the past week.'_ Harry thought in amusement. "If you're not coming out, then I'm coming in. Scoot over a bit, will you?" he said to her, and got ready to do just that.

Hitsumi-hime squeaked in fright and pressed herself as far away from him as possible, her eyes wide and frantic. "D-don't…"

Harry sighed. "Will you stop that, princess? We really don't have the time for this. What happened to Team Seven?"

"H-how do I know that y-you really are H-Harry-san?" she demanded suddenly.

'_First she's hot, then she's cold, then she's hot again. This girl really needs to find one emotion, and then stick with it, dammit.'_ The ANBU Squad Commander complained to himself. "Here. You're the only one besides Team Seven that knows that I bear this medallion," he said as he pulled out the communication medallion. The princess had seen him check it once and had asked about it; he had showed it to her, but had then extracted her promise not to mention it to anyone else. It had been an experiment to see if she would listen to him, and to what degree she would listen to him, but now it seemed to pay off since the girl started relaxing again. She slowly crawled out of the hollowed out trunk, and then suddenly Harry found himself with an armful of crying, hysterical princess.

"_Oi_!" He looked down at her. "What's this for?"

"I was so scared!" she cried against his chest.

"Yes, 'was'. It's a past tense if I ever heard one. Now, would you mind letting go of me and telling me what the hell happened to my team."

Hitsumi stared up at the green-eyed man in surprise and shock. He was so cold, so emotionless, it came as a complete shock to her. Sure, the man hadn't showed much emotion before either, but in this situation she expected more than just an inquiry about the location of his three students. Didn't he love the three young teens? Didn't their safety mean anything to him?

She let go of him and backed off slightly. "T-they were taken… by the attackers…"

"Keep going," Harry said when she stopped. "Tell me everything you know. And while we're at it, you don't have to hide the fact that you thought about hiring nuke-nin to help you escape. I've known something like that would happen from the second I met you."

The princess blushed in shame and looked down, biting her lip. Then, after a short while, she started talking. "I-it's true that I wanted to hire nuke-nin to get out of this marriage, and I… I asked about slightly in the past two towns, but I didn't hire anyone. However, less than a day after we le-left the last town, we were attacked. I have no idea why-"

The green-eyed man cut her off. "It's because of you, little princess. You foolishly asked about for nuke-nin, without taking any precaution. The rumours about it spread, and soon you had a group of nuke-nin on your neck. Simple logic would've prevented it, if only you had thought about it before going through with it."

She winced as if he had physically struck her. "It… it was a-almost midnight wh-when S-Sakura-san came in-into my tent and woke m-me up. S-she helped m-me escape to this pl-place and told me to s-stay put until she returned. Th-the sun c-came up and they still hadn't c-come for me, so I- I made my w-way back to the campsite, a-and…" here the girl broke off with a dry sob. "I-I couldn't… no one… I-I came back here just in… in case they came from an-another direction…" she sobbed dryly again.

Harry did a quick mental estimate, and found out that the attack had happened two days ago, and that the princess had been without food and water since then. "Anything you can tell me about the attackers? Anything Sakura might have said to you while you were escaping?"

"S-she said that e-each attacker was dressed in a com-completely black uniform," Hitsumi replied after thinking for a while. "Except for a patch on t-their shoulders. These were coloured, a-and each attacker had a different colour." She added. "Does this help any?"

"Yes, it does." The green-eyed man nodded. "Huh, I had thought that the Colour Gang was all wiped out." He mused.

"The Colour Gang?"

"Hai. An annoying group of missing shinobi from various Hidden Villages. We did a surprise raid on them a couple of years ago, and more or less wiped them out. Apparently some escaped, if what you say is true. Either that, or they are copying the original Colour Gang." Harry shook his head, and started heading back towards the ruined camp. "Come on, little princess. We need to gather some supplies, burn the bodies, and then I'll bring you to Water Country and your fiancé."

"Wh-wh-what?! Wait a minute! Aren't you going to go and rescue Naruto-san, Sasuke-san and Sakura-san?!" she shouted, completely shocked.

"No." Harry replied easily.

"Why not?! They are your students, aren't they?! Don't you care at all!?!"

"Of course I care about them, but they are shinobi. They knew what might happen the second they started on this path. Besides, you are my main priority right now. I can't abandon you anywhere, and I can't take you with me if I were to hunt down the Colour Gang. You would slow me down and give me something extra to worry about, and your possible death would be very annoying to both Fire Country and Water Country, possibly leading to a war between the two."

"You… you…you…" Hitsumi stuttered, her eyes wide and her mouth almost hanging open in shock. Then anger took over. "YOU HEARTLESS MURDERER!!!! How can you do something like that?!?!?!" she had ran up to him and now hammered away on his chest with her fists.

"It's my duty." Harry said simply. "Not only that, but your wedding is in a week, and I don't suppose you want to miss it?"

"Screw the wedding!!!!" the girl shouted, quite surprising him with her choice of words. "If you don't want to save them, then I'll do it myself!!!! And since it's your damnable duty to protect me, then you will simply have to tag along!!!!" with that she turned around and was ready to stomp off in some random direction to start her search, but instead she found herself lifted into the air and slung across the shinobi's shoulders. She squeaked and flapped with her arms and legs until he caught a hold of them, holding them in a firm but surprisingly gentle grip. "What are you doing?!?!! LET ME DOWN!!!!"

"You were going in the wrong direction, little princess." He said to her.

"I am not going to marry anyone until we save Naruto-san, Sasuke-san and Sakura-san!"

"I never said you were, I just pointed out that you were going in the wrong direction. Besides, if we are going to do this, then there are some things we need to prepare first."

"So you will do a rescue mission?" she asked hopefully.

"Nope."

"WHAT?!?!!"

"It's your rescue mission. I'm just tagging along." A devilish smirk had spread across his face, his eyes glittering slyly.

Hitsumi stared at the man's profile with wide eyes, taking in everything, and blinking in surprise. "Didn't you say that this Colour Gang was dangerous?! Didn't you say that I would just get in the way?!"

"I know several people who can help us out, there's nothing to worry about."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You… you… YOU IDIOT!!!! You were just testing me!!!! All this time!!!! This entire conversation!!!!!"

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "There's hope for you yet, little princess."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!!"

"Hai, hai."

"AARRRRGHHH!!!!"

-x-x-x-x-

There. Please tell me what you think.

Hmm. The princess didn't quite turn out the way I wanted in this chapter. Don't worry, she's still the selfish little princess you know. This just a rare moment. Probably won't happen again… then again, anyone can be changed from such a traumatic experience despite having avoided the worst of it…

This is the beginning of the end for Orochimaru, and then I will focus on what's been going on in the Wizarding World and what the Order and the DA has been up to, so keep your hair on. It'll come really soon now.

Just found out that the Sound Five are supposed to be teenagers around 14 years of age. I say that's bullshit. They don't look it in the manga or the anime, and they certainly wouldn't be able to perform such an advanced technique as that purplish prison-like thing that confined Orochimaru and the Sandaime during the Third Round of the Chunnin Exams. Just doesn't make sense. Therefore we shall ignore it completely, and since this is an AU it doesn't matter much.

An extra bonus to look forwards to: the Cerberus will soon appear! _YAY_!!!! Finally!!!!

Thanks to:

Mala Suerte, Honebar, Insane Immortal Dragon Goddess, Knives, XinnLajgin, Lucifer's Following, Tombadgerlock, Kingdark, NamelessHeretic, dark672, RobotPirateNinja, BasicallyAnIdiot, Anave Lipad, sadfru, Wolven Spirits, Regress13, JulesInTheSea, kerricarri, Monks1, 2stupid, RBMIfan, Chibi of Many Names, Morrolan, jusseet, kobisaki, kirallie, momocolady, terriestal-angell, Curlz-Shadow Kitsune, Fattyaddy-99, Chosha Kurenai, Draconic Bean-Sidhe, Pwn Master Paladin, Togepi, Z-AKA Andrea-, muto shizuka, Saetan, Toki Mirage, Sarah R Potter, Fate, Neo, Dragonmage182, Oddball-no.2, Elementh, Morbious20, gaul1, Rogue15, CRaZY TeDDy, orochimaru's grandson, jaxom-j, Damien, and Pyro-Demon, Jax9.


	32. Chapter 32

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the long wait, but you can blame it on school and slight writers block. Those two maladies seem to have a magnetic attraction to each other for some strange reason.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker!

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

Upon reaching the destroyed camp, Harry more or less dumped the princess on the ground, and then went around occasionally picking up some item that might be useful in the future, and further investigating the clues and tracks left behind. He also took this chance to gather the dead, decomposing bodies in a pile and burn them with the strongest Katon-jutsu that he knew. One of the bodies he had first stripped for clothes, and now gave said clothes to a very green-looking princess. "Here you go, Hitsumi-hime. Put these clothes on. You're too conspicuous in your current attire."

"You want _me_ to put on the clothes of _a servant_?! A _dead_ servant, no less?!" the princess squeaked, looking ready to throw up.

"So it's the fact that these clothes belonged to a servant and not that said person is dead, that bothers you?" the ANBU Squad Commander raised an eyebrow.

"No, of course not! How could you be so blasé about this?!"

"So what's the trouble then?"

"Those were the clothes of a _dead servant_!" she shouted.

Harry sighed. "I still don't see the problem here. The servant is dead, and she's not going to need the clothes anymore. You, on the other hand, will need them. You can't go running about in that fancy kimono of yours, all the bad guys from here to Snow Country would be on our tail before we could even take three steps, and I would rather not see that happen. And besides, it would be a waste to let such good clothes go unused, they are of a very durable make, and haven't been worn very long. It's a practical and useful deal."

"It's desecration of the dead, that's what it is!" Hitsumi-hime shouted. "NO! Simply _no_! I _refuse_ to do something like that!"

Harry's eyebrow twitched. "Listen, I don't like defiling the memory of the dead either, but sometimes one has to make an exception, and this is one of those times."

"Didn't you listen to anything I just said?! I REFUSE!!!!"

"My dear, little princess," the green-eyed shinobi growled. "Either you put on those clothes _right now_, or _I_ will do it for you!" he practically roared the last part.

The girl yelped, but accepted the clothes with a scandalised look. Then she retreated behind the largest tree to change, and Harry shook his head in exasperation. This girl really was a great bother. Sure, he admired her morals et all, but they were far too naïve. _'Perhaps this little rescue mission will be a much-needed eye-opener for the girl. Now, lets see what else the battlefield can tell me.'_

He focused back on his surroundings, assembling the clues that were all around. Shuriken and kunai were buried in tree-trunks or the ground, and the signs of powerful jutsu were all over the place, but there was something that struck him as he gazed at them.

'_There's very little variation in the techniques used.' _Harry realised. _'The Colour Gang was well-known for consisting of nuke-nin from each of the Hidden Villages. Each of those shinobi was __well-versed in ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu, and they didn't have anything against showing off their skills. But here there are only signs of some techniques – powerful and mastered techniques, yes, but still very little variation. Hmm…'_

He continued to look around, and his eyes narrowed when he noticed a hole in one of the trunks. It went straight through the trunk, continued on through the next tree, the tree after that, and all the way until it – whatever it had been – had hit a big rock, and had blown said rock into smithereens.

"Now isn't this interesting." The green-eyed man muttered to himself as he examined the hole in the tree-trunk. It was a small hole, really, barely the size of Harry's own palm, but it had gone straight through the wood in a surprisingly clean manner, no splinters or anything of the sort sticking out. _'I have heard of no jutsu that can do something like this, they're not precise enough for this. Which leaves only jutsu coming from a wand. There have been some wizards gone rogue after coming to the Shinobi Continent, and Voldemort's goons are also here. Then these wizards hooked up with nuke-nin in some way or another – no more than chunnin-rank evident by the little variation of mastered techniques – and together they decided to attack the princess' company.'_

Harry's eyes narrowed dangerously. "There is still something fishy about it all."

Firstly, why did they attack the princess?

'_The potential war between Fire Country and Water Country is a good reason, but it is also rather unlikely. She is to be married off to a lower-ranking lord, a lord that knows me personally and would listen to me if I were to explain the princess' unfortunate death. Every shinobi knows this, so it is unlikely that this is the reason for the attack.'_ Harry answered his own question.

Secondly, when the princess and Sakura escaped the battle, and once said battle was over, why didn't any of the wizards in the group summon the princess back, or track her down with a point-me spell?

'_Because they weren't after the princess in the first place. They were after Team 7. What with Naruto being a jinchuuriki and Sasuke being an Uchiha, it's no wonder, but I doubt this. The Akatsuki are the only ones strong enough to take down Naruto, but they don't bother to send second-rate goons to do their work. And Sasuke's Sharingan hasn't activated yet as far as I know, so he'd be rather useless as well until it did. The attackers couldn't keep any of them contained for long, too much chance of one of them escaping, or being found by hunter-nin.'_

And the conclusion is?

"They weren't after Team 7 or the princess, the attackers were after me. It's the Ernie Macmillan scenario all over again, except for that this time the one behind the scenes isn't a wizard, but a shinobi. How else would an alliance between rouge wizards and missing-nin come to fruition? This is so obvious." Harry sighed. _'Still playing games with me, Kabuto? Still hoping to kill me and become Orochimaru's right hand man? Yare, yare, one of these days you really will manage to piss me off.' _

At this point the princess came up to him, all changed and normal-looking (for once). The clothes fit her well enough, and she had removed the golden ornaments from her hair and had simply braided it. Her own clothes were held in a bundle to her chest, and she looked very uncomfortable and skittish in her new outfit, as if expecting the ghost of the servant woman to pop up and berate her for taking the clothes, or something similar.

"So… what now?" the princess asked.

Harry picked up two bags he had packed, and handed one to the girl. "Now we walk, and you better keep up," he said, performed a quick _henge_ into an elderly civilian man, and set off. It would be better for those that saw them on the road to think that they were grandfather and granddaughter, it was more normal and it wouldn't draw quite as much attention.

"W-Wait for me!" Hitsumi shouted and ran after him.

-x-x-x-x-

"So, yeah, there you have their hiding place." Terry Boot said as he, Harry, Hitsumi, and a couple of others stared down at the entrance to an old mine.

"Why is it always an old mine or some other abandoned, underground facility?" Harry muttered to himself as he observed the couple of guards walking about. "Why can't bad guys ever be original, like building a moving castle or something?"

"It's been done already," Terry replied. "Diana Wynne Jones wrote a book about '_Howl's Moving Castle'_."

"How about a giant skull made out of rock, then?"

"Done in Disney's _Peter Pan_."

"A vicious volcano?"

"_Lord of the Rings_."

"A normal castle?"

"Done in _The Labyrinth_, _Dracula_, _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_ and so many other books and movies that I won't bother mentioning any more of them."

"A simple house, then?"

"Done as well."

"Well, that explains it then." Harry sighed, and focused back on the task at hand.

After having travelled for another two days, and following the tracks that the fake Colour Gang had left, Harry and Hitsumi had finally reached the village closest to the bad guys' hideout. Luckily it had been a village where the Order and the DA had a couple of agents, so it hadn't been too difficult getting a hold of both men and arms enough to fight. Apparently the villagers themselves were very much fed up with these rogues living in the area and taking the villagers hard-earned food and accosting women, and had easily agreed to help out.

Terry turned to the ANBU Squad Commander. "Well, what's the plan?"

The men of the village leaned forwards eagerly. The younger ones were in slight awe of the green-eyed man and kept a respectful distance, but the older and more experienced ones didn't bother with that at all, and simply smiled at the actions of the younger generations.

"Don't know." Harry replied simply.

"What do you mean you don't know? How can you not know?" Terry demanded. "I find it hard to believe that you, of all people, would come here to save your team, and not have a plan at hand!"

"It's not my rescue mission, it's hers." He pointed at the princess.

Hitsumi looked around at all the incredulous looks that were being sent her way, and instead of making a fool out of herself and getting lots of people needlessly killed, she decided to take the diplomatic way out. "W-well, I hardly know much about these kinds of things, so perhaps you could advise us, Harry-san?"

Harry sent the girl an amused look. _'She's learning.'_ He thought, then cleared his throat. "How nice of your to ask. As a matter of fact, I do have a plan or two up my sleeve."

The former Ravenclaw in the group sighed, and swatted at Harry's arm. "Stop trying to be modest, and simply tell us."

"We make a trap field in the forest, enhanced with spells, and lure the shinobi there. The nuke-nin aren't any higher than chunnin rank, so it should be easy. While you and the villagers take care of them, Terry, I and Hitsumi will go into the mine and save Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura."

Terry nodded in understanding. "Simple but good, I like it."

"I have an idea," the leader of the villagers said. "How about, instead of putting my men in too much danger, Harry-san can simply cast a genjutsu and thusly lure the nuke-nin into the trap-field, where spells, traps and my own men wait for them?"

"That is a good idea." The green-eyed man agreed. "You must've grown up in a shinobi village, ne? Perhaps even with some education as a shinobi?"

"Got no further than gennin," the leader replied with a smile. "But I got a real life wake-up call that I didn't like, and quit before someone got seriously hurt. All legally, of course."

"Well, well, mates," Terry said. "We've got the plans, so now lets get to work!"

-x-x-x-x-

The sounds of the nuke-nin falling for traps and spells that went far over their level, didn't bother Harry at all as he slowly made his way throughout the small, dark, twisting corridors of the mine. Hitsumi, on the other hand, twitched every time they heard a scream or explosion, and was holding onto Harry's sleeve like a lost child.

The two of them walked on until they came to a fork in the road. So far they hadn't met up with a single wizard, and Harry's instincts were acting up like crazy. Therefore he told the princess to take the right corridor and he, himself, would explore the left.

"You will, most probably, get to Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura before me," he told the girl. "I can sense their chakra-signatures down that corridor, but what with the twisting of these mineshafts I can't be completely sure. And here, use this kunai if you have to and don't hesitate." He handed her said kunai and disappeared down the left corridor, soon being swallowed up by the darkness.

Hitsumi stood there for a few minutes, looking after him, then squared her shoulders, told herself to stop acting like a child, and made her way hesitantly down the right corridor… she had no idea that she was being closely monitored. Whenever she heard an unnatural sound, she pressed herself up against the wall just in case, and thusly it took her quite a long time to traverse the corridor – which was no more than hundred meters or thereabout. Once she had gotten that far, she hid herself in the darkness of the corridor, and stared out into the small cave in front of her. It had obviously been a storage room when the mine had still been active, but now it had been transformed into a prison, with three cells. There was one torch in the cave, embedded in the very stone in the middle of the circular space, and it gave her enough light to recognise the three figures, one in each cell.

"Naruto-kun? Sasuke-kun? Sakura-kun?" she called in almost a whisper, and waited with bated breath.

"Hitsumi-sama?" Sakura rasped, and came up to the bars of her cell.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he too made his way up to the bars.

"How did you find us?" Sasuke added.

There was some clinking and clanking as all three of them moved, and the torchlight reflected in a chain that was connected to their legs and to the wall. It was a chakra-suppressing chain, but Hitsumi didn't know that. The trio didn't look too good, with bruises and cuts, but they didn't seem to be too badly hurt.

The princess quickly made her way into the cave, and started to hand out food and water that she had been carrying for the past two days. "Here, eat, drink. You must be famished. Harry-san helped me find you, he'll be here soon enough. And the villagers are taking care of the nuke-nin. We'll get you out of there."

"You shouldn't be here, Hitsumi-sama." Naruto whispered harshly, while Sasuke and Sakura nodded.

Hitsumi shook her head, and picked up the heavy lock on the door of Sasuke's cell to examine it. "I'll never understand you shinobi. Now do as I say, and eat and drink up."

The three members of Team 7 shared a look in the darkness as they ate and drank. Was this really the same princess that they had been assigned to guard a little more than a week ago? She had changed, not overly much, but still changed.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a new voice broke into their conversation, and all four looked up. The wizard in the mouth of the corridor smirked evilly. "A little pampered princess trying to help three brats to escape. We can't have that, now can we? What you say, mates?"

About ten other wizards exited from the shadows of the corridor, and filled up the small space of the cave, all wearing nasty smirks and leering.

"Good thing we had those monitoring charms and alarms on this cave, otherwise we might've been stupid enough to go out and get killed like those useless nuke-nin." Another wizard sneered. He stretched his arm out to grab the princess, but recoiled it quickly after being cut by Hitsumi's kunai. "You little bitch!"

"There is something wrong here," the first wizard muttered. "Where is Potter?"

"Huh?"

"_Think_, you idiots! The princess is a useless child, she couldn't have made it so far if she didn't have help! And the silver-haired, glasses-wearing dude said that Potter would be with them as well!"

"I suppose we have to go out and search for him, then." The second wizard groaned. "Alright, three of you stay here, and the rest of us will look for your missing guest."

Harry, who had been the one to follow the princess all along, smirked and revealed himself, seemingly morphing out of the very shadows of the room. "No need, I am right here. And how nice of you all to be here as well. Now I won't have to search for you, or worry where you are. Actually, I have to thank you people. You have just confirmed my suspicions as to whom arranged all of this."

The rogue wizards had all drawn their wands and were pointing them straight at the green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander. "You have been a thorn in my side for ages, Potter," the lead-wizard growled. "If it weren't for you, then the black market dealings between us and the shinobi could've made me rich ten times over by now. So, no personal offence or anything, but I am going to enjoy killing you."

"Really?" Harry asked amiably, his head cocked slightly to the side.

"Despite your numerous and excellent skills, do you really think that you can defeat all of us? In this little room?" another wizard frowned.

"Not at all, I am not stupid. Too much risk of Team 7 or Hitsumi-hime being hurt. But I know someone who will defeat you."

"Who is he? So that we know what to write on the gravestone."

"It's not a he."

"Who is she?"

"It's not a she either. It's sort of 'they'."

"You mean that there is more than one, then?"

"Not really." Harry replied, and grinned upon seeing the looks that everyone was sending him at the moment.

One of the wizards looked totally freaked out. "He's gone barmy, he has!"

The lead-wizard, on the other hand, was getting seriously annoyed. "What are you talking about, Potter?! You're just trying to pull out the time until the _real_ backup comes along, aren't you?!"

"Not at all! I want you guys to meet Cuddles, Chibi and Snuffly." Harry pointed to the roof of the cave, and everyone looked up. Hitsumi-hime screamed, Team 7 gasped, and the wizards stared in shock at the tree pairs of bright glowing eyes that were situated in the stone. Slowly the eyes lowered towards them, the stone itself taking the form of three monstrous dog-heads, with razor sharp fangs. Soon enough everyone could see that this creature was a Cerberus – _the_ Cerberus of all Cerberus' – even though all of its body was still fused with the mountain itself. The three heads barely had any room in the small cave, but they lowered far enough until Harry could pat them.

"Chibi, Cuddles, Snuffly, meet the bad guys." Harry introduced them, a smirk on his face.

"Can we eat them now, Harry?" the oldest head asked.

"Yeah! Yeah! Can we? Can we? Please, please, please, please, pretty please?" the youngest head whimpered eagerly.

"We haven't eaten human flesh in such a long time." The usually self-centred head was practically drooling.

The rogue wizards all screamed and ran off into the corridors of the mine, realising that to stay in that cave would mean a very painful death.

"Sure, knock yourselves out," Harry said to the Cerberus. "Just be sure to keep the way out of here clean, alright?"

The giant heads growled in agreement, before they fused back into the rocks and disappeared. Soon afterwards the first scream echoed down the corridors of the old mine.

Harry turned back to Hitsumi-hime and Team 7, and smiled. "How about we get out of here, hmmm?"

-x-x-x-x-

The rest of the mission went off without a hitch, and they reached Water Country and the Hidden Village of Mist quickly. After registering at the Mizukage Tower – standard procedure for all foreign shinobi that entered a Hidden Village – they delivered Hitsumi-hime to her future husband. Misaki-dono was a kind young man, with gentle features, and looked rather like one of those men that people could simply walk over and terrorise. This was not true, as Hitsumi discovered on her first day when she had tried to do just that.

"Thank you for escorting my guest to me, Harry-san." Misaki-dono said when they delivered the princess to him, and bowed slightly.

Harry and Team 7 bowed back. "Nothing to it, Misaki-dono, it was a… a pleasure."

Now that the polite necessities were out of the way, Misaki-dono suddenly grinned. "So, Harry-sensei, just how much trouble did she cause for you and your students on the journey here? Her father has told me about her rather stubborn and rather self-centred ways, but I want your opinion on her as well."

The green-eyed man snorted, then smirked. "She could be better, that's for sure, brat. She'd need to learn humility first – amongst other things – but with a lot of patience she could actually turn out a useful wife for you."

"I think I shall manage, Harry-sensei. I could always use some of the methods you used when you taught me, if nothing else." Misaki-dono smirked in a surprisingly dark way, proving that he wasn't half as stupid and naïve as he seemed at first, and also proving that he had indeed been Harry's student at one point in time. That smirk was a true copy of Harry's own smirk when the green-eyed man delighted in a challenge.

"Well, either way, I wish you good luck with your newest endeavour, Misaki." Harry said to the younger man. "I'm afraid that I must leave you now, we have a meeting shortly with the Mizukage."

"How about we meet up later on?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't. We're heading straight to Konoha after the meeting. We have been gone longer than the mission indicated, and have to soon give a report, or they'll think that we've abandoned the village."

Misaki-dono blinked. "Has it really become that strict?"

Sasuke and Sakura nodded, and Naruto spoke up. "After Orochimaru's attack, yes."

"Good luck to you then, and I hope we see each other again soon, Harry-sensei."

"Aa," Harry smirked. "Alright, you brats, if the meeting gets too dragged out, and if you get the permission of the Mizukage, then you three can walk around Mist if you want. So off to the Mizukage Tower with you!"

The three teens saluted him in a very grave manner, but then burst out laughing as they headed off towards the Mizukage Tower. Harry bid one last farewell to Misaki-dono, then went off after his temporary team, shaking his head in exasperation as he watched the three joke about, but then his smile slowly slipped off his face.

_'I wonder when Orochimaru is going to call me in. No chance in hell that he doesn't know about the death of the Sound Elite yet, and Kabuto can't keep me away forever. Hmm, wonder if I should visit him without receiving a request. That could actually turn the situation in my favour. Actually I do believe that that's exactly what I'll do. Soon.'_

-x-x-x-x-

There, it's done. Please tell me what you think!

A bit of Muppet-insanity thrown into the chapter for the heck of it, other than that nothing much to say for this chapter!

Thanks to:

RobotPirateNinja, NamelessHeretic, Honebar, Fattyaddy-99, OmniscientOne, Spirit HellFire, Monks1, GreyGryph, azilla, dark672, Kingdark, Wolven Spirits, Adnexus, Tombadgerlock, VB, Rasgara, lord lazy pants, SisterDear, Calamus, Beta the Second, RBMIfan, Chibi of Many Names, Angranse, 2stupid, Anave Lipad, Elementh, XinnLajgin, foxychibi, momocolady, Raika Katsuya, Insane Immortal Dragon Goddess, Lady Threarah, Sonyor Fier Mensheir, Morrolan, Chosha Kurenai, Curlz-Shadow Kitsune, Z-AKA Andrea-, Darkest-Fire.Blackest-Night, Yami no Hikari-Chan, kirallie, Morbious20, deeba, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, Lazy-Hime, animelava, nightbug08, insanechildfanfic, mouse, PersonaJXT, Daitoshi and Merrymow.


	33. Chapter 33

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the lateness of this chapter. Please read on and enjoy, and then – preferably – review as well!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker!

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

The second meeting with the Mizukage was longer and a heck of a lot more informal than the first; actually, the only reason that they even had a second meeting, was because Ron wanted Harry to meet the mother of Ron's future child, Rukia. And also because the redhead was very much interested in the three teens of Team Seven. So, the first thing that the tall man did when the quartet entered his office, was to jump out of his chair, stalk over to Harry and then hit him over the head. Hard.

"Oi!" Harry growled as he rubbed the injured area. "What was that for?"

"For being an idiot, for not taking proper care of yourself, and for scaring us all half to death." Ron replied, totally ignoring the green-eyed glare sent in his direction. "Do you know how I felt when one of my shinobi told me about what had happened to you upon your return from the Wizarding World? And then getting all the lovely, gory details from Ginny not soon after? I ought to bloody well lock you up, or something! Otherwise you'll drive me to an early grave by cardiac arrest!"

The ANBU Squad Commander rolled his eyes, and muttered something about mother-hens, Weasley matriarchs, and useless worrying.

Ron ignored him completely, and turned instead to the rather stunned Team Seven. "Well then, I suppose that this is the perfect moment to introduce myself. The name's Weasley Ron, Godaime Mizukage – though only god knows how that came about – and this idiot's best friend and surrogate brother. Call me Ron."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura stared for a moment, then shook the offered hand, and introduced themselves. "You… have you two known each other for long, Ron-san?" Naruto wondered, not able to keep his curiosity in check. He knew so very little about Harry-nii-san's life before he was born, and Naruto was eager for any and all knowledge he might obtain about his unofficial guardian.

"Since we were eleven," the redhead said, sending a smirk in Harry's direction. "All through school and the crazy adventures that we always seemed to land in the middle off, and then coming here. Poor guy's always been in my shadow. Always the Ron's mate, and never the Ron!"

"Bloody hell…" Harry muttered, dragging a hand down his face – but he couldn't quite hide the amused glitter in his eyes. He just _knew_ that Ron would tell some embarrassing story from their younger days. "Don't you have some important business to do as the Mizukage?"

"Not at all!" came the prompt reply. "Unlike your Hokage, I actually do my work on time! I even finish early and thusly get time off, so _nyah_ to that! Now shush with you. I'm going to tell these three kids weird and embarrassing stories about your youth, and nothing you can say will stop me." Ron turned to the by-now amused teens. "Did you hear the story about Harry's first and – apparently – last official, and rather disastrous date?"

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura shook their heads.

"He was fifteen at the time, and there was this girl he'd liked for years, Chang Cho. Well, finally she agreed to go out with him, and-" Ron never got further than that, because Harry slapped an explosive tag over his mouth.

"One more word out of you and I will blow you up – best friend or not." The green-eyed man threatened in a growl.

The Mizukage's eyes were glittering in delight, the man himself very proud of the fact that he could make the ANBU Squad Commander lose his cool so quickly. But he backed off, raising his hands in defeat. Harry raised a sceptical eyebrow, but ripped off the explosive tag – and did it rather harshly. Ron yelped and rubbed his abused upper lip for a moment. "Well, at least I won't have to shave for a few days." He muttered.

"So you were on Harry-sensei's gennin team?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"I suppose you could call us that, although we didn't have any official rank since such a school system doesn't exist in the Wizarding World."

"Who was the third member, if you don't mind my asking, Ron-sama?" Sakura looked up at the tall, red-haired man.

It was Harry who replied. "You've met the third member already. It's Granger Hermione-san."

"_WHAT?!?!?! _The bushy-haired lady who always brings Butterbeer?! It's _her_?!" Naruto shouted. He clearly remembered one of the two women who had picked him up as a child, cuddled him on her lap, and sung him a lullaby – the other woman had been Chihiro, Hyuuga Manji's wife. Seeing as Naruto was usually surrounded by males, he was never used to such tender and gentle treatment. Hermionie-san was something of a surrogate big sister, and always brought that delicious, magical drink known as Butterbeer.

"Hermione-san? I never would have guessed!" Sakura was blinking in surprise. She had always been told by the female teachers at the academy, that female ninja needed to be both feminine and strong enough to deal with an occupation dominated by males. They needed to have a strong presence, and yet be practically invisible. They were supposed to be gracious hostesses, and at the same time vicious killers when the job required it. It was nothing more than controversy, but Hermione-san had seemingly managed to blend such extremes almost perfectly, and Sakura realised that she had found a good role model.

"Don't let looks fool you, she's got a mean left hook." Ron grinned, obviously remembering the time in their third year when Hermione decked Malfoy a good one.

Sasuke was thinking over this. "It's surprising, but at the same time it isn't. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was always something about her that struck me as different."

Naruto slowly nodded, suddenly remembering all the little details he had picked up over the years, in the way that Hermione-san moved, held herself, acted. It all suddenly came together, to form a very nice picture. "Yes, I think so too. Remember that time when we were practicing out throwing skills inside, and the kunai hit that photo? Hermione-san easily caught it before it hit the ground-"

"-and then distracted us from the happening by that hour-long, complicated lecture." Sasuke finished the train of thought.

Ron blinked at the two teens. "You two are starting to sound like my twin brothers, and that is not a good thing."

There was suddenly a knock on the door, and it opened to reveal a young, brown-haired and heavily-pregnant woman. She entered the office, closed the door after herself, and then looked around the room. Easily spotting Ron, she stalked over and, quick as a snake, grabbed his ear and twisted.

"Itai, itai, itai, itai, _itai_!" Ron chanted. "Rukia, darling, that hurts!!!!"

"It's supposed to!" the woman, now identified as the one and only Rukia, said. "What's the meaning of taking me off of active duty, huh? I could still have done D-class mission for another couple of months! But what with your meddling, I now have to spend my days sitting around the apartment, stare at the boring walls, watch sucky soap operas, and get fatter and fatter!"

"Love, we have guests. Can't this wait until after they've gone?"

"So you think that I'm getting fat, huh?! Is that it!?!?!"

"Rukia!" Ron's voice was an odd mix of a pleading whimper, and a growled order.

Rukia sighed but let go of the ear, and stared at the three teens, then her eyes landed on Harry, and she grinned. "You must be Ron's infamous friend, Potter Harry! How very nice to finally meet you. My name's Hikawa Rukia." She bowed clumsily, her large stomach getting in the way.

Harry quickly bowed as well. "Potter Harry at your service, ma'am. And, if I might be as bold as to say, you look absolutely wonderful."

For a moment it looked like Rukia was going to deck him, but then her eyes grew sparkly and she blushed. "Oh, you're just saying that!" she giggled.

"Not at all, ma'am," Harry smiled charmingly. "Motherhood obviously suits you." He was carefully manoeuvring through the dangerous waters presented by a pregnant woman, applying just the right about of charm, retreating easily whenever he sensed danger, and hoping to high heaven that she wouldn't start twisting _his_ ear.

Naruto and Sasuke were following the conversation very carefully, mentally taking notes on how it was all progressing, and how Harry's body language corresponded to the slightest shifts in Rukia-san. Sakura was well aware that there was a lesson to be learned in this situation, but she had never been all that good at reading the human body – and this had also been one of the reasons that she hadn't advanced to chunnin rank. She simply needed more training.

Ron smiled proudly, and put a gentle arm around his Rukia. "Of course she does! I have never seen anyone look lovelier!"

Rukia's mood changed in a split second, and she rounded on him, grabbing his ear again. "And as for you, mister! You are sleeping on the couch in the foreseeable future for taking me off the active duty list!"

"Please show me at least some respect whilst in other people's company, Rukia!" Ron pleaded.

"Do you know if it's a boy or girl, yet?" the green-eyed man inquired, completely ignoring the redhead.

"We want it to be a surprise," Rukia replied with a smile, suddenly all sunshine and daisies again.

The ignored and abused Mizukage was pouting. "Stop charming the mother of my child, Harry!"

"You shut up."

"I'm the bleedin' Mizukage, for heavens sake! I deserve some respect around here!"

"You deserve to be castrated for putting me in this position!" the woman barked.

Ron nearly whimpered. "Yes, dear."

"As nice as this chitchat is, we really need to get going," Harry said, though he was grinning widely. "Is there any message you want us to bring back to Konoha, Ron?"

"Message? Ah, yes, actually there was this one thing, a gift for the new Godaime Hokage. A token of good faith and continuous peace-treaty between our two villages and countries; you know, the standard deal from one 'kage to another." Ron walked to one of the shelves – all of which were neatly organised, totally the opposite of the Hokage's office – and easily plucked down a small box wrapped in inconspicuous brown paper and twine, and a simple-looking scroll. "Here you go."

Naruto took the package, while Sasuke took the scroll. Sakura quickly changed one of her own medical scrolls into a replica of the one the Mizukage had given them, and thusly volunteered on being the decoy if it ever came to such a situation. Harry nodded in approval of this, and then focused back on Ron and Rukia who were bickering again.

"It was nice to meet you, Rukia-san, and it was good to see you again, Ron. Good luck with the child, and I hope that we meet again soon." He preformed a bow, and Team Seven did the same while muttering their own goodbyes. Just as they exited the office they heard Ron muttering something about respect, while Rukia replied with something that sounded suspiciously like 'definitely sleeping on the couch'. The two ANBU guards stationed outside the office didn't even bat an eyelash at this, too used to these spats.

The green-eyed man, on the other hand, snickered. "If there's one thing that hasn't changed about Ron, it's his way to deal with women. It didn't work when we were eleven, and it doesn't work now."

Sasuke and Naruto were looking warily at Sakura, as if expecting the girl to suddenly turn into a pregnant, terrorising monster, while Sakura simply sighed "Men!", and stalked off down the corridor.

-x-x-x-x-

Now that there wasn't a spoiled princess slowing them down, travelling went much, much, _much_ faster. They took only three stops throughout the day, ate only ration bars thusly having no need to waste time cooking, and were off again pretty early each morning. The pace Harry had set may have been somewhat taxing on the three teens, but they didn't complain. In fact, they were rather happy on being pushed to their physical limits, instead of having their patience taxed to _its_ limit.

"Although it was nice having another female around, I prefer it this way," Sakura commented as they sat around that night's camp. They had passed the border between Water Country and Fire Country, and it felt good to be back on home ground again.

"You can simply ask to be transferred to a fully-female team, if that is what you want, Sakura-san," Harry remarked from his perch on a branch above the teens.

"Never. Someone's got to look after these two knuckleheads." She replied with a grin.

"OI!!!" Naruto protested, while Sasuke glared.

The green-eyed man chuckled, but didn't comment further on it. They spent about another hour in quiet conversation, and with Harry observing them all from above. Sasuke and Naruto set out two sleeping bags while Sakura gathered some more twigs from the close proximity. One of them would always keep watch during the night, they had learned quickly not to expect Harry to keep watch for them unless he specifically told them so. The almost unconscious teamwork they presented during this, showed that in the future they could be one of Konoha's best shinobi teams, but it also showed that they still had lots of things to learn, because not a single one of them had noticed that Harry had come down from his perch in the tree, and was now leaning against the shadowy side of the trunk.

Harry observed the teens as they settled back around the small fire, and then scared the bejeesus out of them when he snuck up behind them and cleared his throat. "Just because you are back in the Fire Country it doesn't mean that you can relax your guard," he told them once they had calmed, and sat down opposite Naruto.

"We got the point, Harry-sensei," Sakura muttered, clutching a hand above her heart.

"Have you really known Ron-san since you were eleven?" Naruto asked after putting himself together. "How did you meet?"

The ANBU Squad Commander's eyebrow rose, but he replied honestly. "On the way to school. It wasn't long after I had been introduced to the Wand Shinobi world, and I was green as a newly-sprung sprout. Ron was the second person from that world that I had ever met, so you can understand that I was very much impressed and awed by it all, expecting Ron – who comes from a purely Wand Shinobi family – to know everything about anything. Well, shows how much you can trust assumptions without evidence to back them up."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke inquired.

"Ron knew very little compared to what he could have known, I knew nothing, and it was Hermione – who was the first Wand Shinobi in her family – who knew everything. We made quite the team. The tall hothead, the bushy-haired bookworm, and short, clueless me." Harry grinned. "We gave the teachers hell."

The three teens looked sceptical.

"I can't imagine it," Sasuke muttered. "I'm not sure about Ron-san or Hermione-san, but you being clueless is like saying that the sky is green and the grass blue. It simply doesn't fit."

"You are of average height, Harry-sensei, yet you seem to tower above most people." Sakura commented as she looked her temporary teacher up and down. "I can't imagine you ever seeming short."

"The mental picture is just too weird." Naruto shook his head.

"It is often difficult to comprehend that older people had lives before you, yourself, entered them." Harry said, the smirk still on his face. "Anyways, I didn't just come down here to scare you brats to death – though that was an amusing bonus. I came to tell you that from tomorrow on and until you get home, you will travel on your own."

"You're not going to accompany us?" Sakura wondered.

"With two chunnin and one experienced gennin on the team, I assume that you will be able to find your way back to Konoha safely." Came the dry reply. "I have some other things to take care of, but I would like for you to deliver this scroll to Tsunade." He threw the item in question to Sasuke.

"What is it?" Naruto asked as he snatched it from his black-haired team-mate, and turned it over and over. "Another scroll that Ron-san handed you? From Misaki-dono? From Hitsumi-hime?"

"Not at all," Harry said, his smirk gaining a rather wicked tint to it. "It's my evaluation of Naruto and Sasuke's performance on this mission, and whether they should keep their chunnin ranks or not."

With that simple sentence the three teens' eyes were glued to the scroll clutched tightly in Naruto's hands, none of them realising that there were several potent charms and spells placed on it. These little additions of Harry's weren't all that dangerous, and they simply made sure that whatever curiosity Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura harboured towards the contents of the scroll, was magnified tenfold – i.e. unless it became a life-or-death situation, all the three of them would be able to think about would be said scroll. This was Harry's final test for the two newly-appointed chunnin. If they could – despite it all – keep from opening the scroll, then they passed. It was very simple, but also a trap that more than one person had fallen into. As the saying went: curiosity may not have killed the cat, but it _did _kill several shinobi.

"Our… our evaluations…" Sasuke managed to force out, his voice slightly more high-pitched than usual.

"H-how nice… nice scroll…" Naruto trailed off, his gaze never wavering from the scroll.

Sakura seemed to be less affected by the scroll than the two boys – mostly because her own career didn't stand or fall with the simple piece of paper – and promptly took it upon herself to be the voice of reason. "Yes, a scroll to be delivered to _Tsunade_-_sama_." She reminded the two boys with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, uh-huh, whatever," the young Uchiha replied.

"Nice Tsunade-sama…" the blond jinchuuriki mumbled, and it was quite obvious that neither of the two had any idea of what they had just said.

Harry simply sat opposite the three brats, his eyes glittering in devilish amusement at this predicament. His consciousness piped up about him being a sadist for doing this to the kids, but he beat it down into the mud again quite viciously, and went back to observing the scene, quite content in watching the three teens use half the night struggling with themselves and the scroll.

'_I'm so evil.'_

-x-x-x-x-

The ANBU Squad Commander had easily slipped away during the night, and was heading straight towards Orochimaru's underground hideout. He even apparated several times, shortening the trip from approximately a week, down to two days. However, apparating around on the Shinobi Continent took a lot out of him, and therefore he found himself making a pit stop in a moderate town in order to rest for a couple of hours, and get something to eat – that is, something more nutritious than ration bars and food pills.

" 'ere ye go, dear," the elderly woman that ran the food stand, said as she put Harry's meal in front of him. " 'aven't seen ye in these parts fer quite some time, dear. Is everythin' alright?"

"Yes, well, being a shinobi leaves little time for sightseeing, unfortunately," Harry replied with a smile. In the mountains just outside town there was an old system of caves that Orochimaru had used as his hideout for a while upon their arrival to the Shinobi Continent, and Harry was thusly well-known and liked by the general populace of the town.

"How's your daughter?" the green-eyed man asked politely.

"Ne'er better!" the old woman gushed happily. "She got married, she did, jus' last summer. And now there's a little 'un on the way! And 'er new 'usband's a dearie too, so kind and compassionate, 'e is. 'e really takes care o' me daughter, 'e does!"

"How wonderful, congratulations to you all." Harry would have said something else, but the sudden, distinct feeling of being kept under watch by more than one pair of eyes, put him on edge. Therefore he quickly finished his meal, paid for it, and bid the old woman a polite goodbye.

"And ye come back soon, ye 'ear me?!" she shouted after him with a fond smile.

Harry gave an absentminded, noncommittal wave, and jumped off through the town and out towards the cave systems. He reached the entrance – an inconspicuous hole in the ground – and turned around to face his stalkers. There were very few trees growing in the slopes leading up to the mountains, and there wasn't much by way of shrubbery either. The grass, however, grew waist-tall and thick, and it waved in the wind, creating ample movement for skilled shinobi to crawl across the ground without giving away their positions. It didn't take long before his watchers revealed themselves, and the green-eyed man nearly cursed.

Before him stood four S-class nuke-nin, their cloaks revealing them to be from the Akatsuki. Two of these people were very, _very_ familiar to the ANBU Squad Commander, while the other two were easily recognised from pictures found in the Shinobi Bingo Book.

"We meet again, Harry-san," the red-haired Akasuna no Sasori, said, his eyes narrowed as he and his partner fanned out to the left.

"Oh bloody hell," Harry couldn't stop himself from cursing.

"Very much so, yeah," Deidara smirked. Somehow he had two arms again, and now demonstrated it by wriggling his fingers slightly to warm them up.

The other two Akatsuki-members had fanned out to the right, and Harry found himself surrounded. Not that it would've mattered much since there was no chance in hell he would have been able to survive a fight with four S-class nuke-nin. Hell, he had barely survived the fight with just Deidara and Sasori approximately three months ago!

"The bounty on your head is large." The Akatsuki-member who's eyes were the only visible skin, commented.

"Godless heathen," the fourth, and last, member sneered. He looked somewhat like a Malfoy, in Harry's opinion. His hair a pale blond, and gelled back perfectly. The top of his Akatsuki-cloak was left open, exposing his chest, and he carried a three-bladed scythe.

"Well, isn't this a happy meeting," the green-eyed man commented warily, his body tense and ready for action and eyes narrowed. _'There's only one thing to do in this situation.'_

Deidara growled. "Very happy, yeah! I need to repay you for hacking off my arm, yeah!"

"Unfortunately, I really do not have the time for this right now, so we must continue this at a later date. Cheerio!" with that said, Harry simply jumped into the hole right behind him, and started falling down the long, vertical tunnel. However, knowing that the four Akatsuki would be hot on his heels – and vaguely hearing cursing from above – he knew that he didn't have much time, which meant that he couldn't waste it on the fall itself – or the landing which was, in itself, very dangerous. _'Apparating it is.'_

With a soft pop Harry disappeared in mid-fall, and appeared again at the bottom, in a small cave full of stalagmites and stalactites, and looked around the pitch black darkness as he pulled out the mental map of the cave he had stashed in his memory. He didn't need a light to know the layout of the cave; he had – after all – lived here for several months with Orochimaru, and had explored the cave-systems thoroughly during that time. Therefore, he knew exactly where to go, how to get there, what to watch out for, and what to listen for. He remembered the sounds of these caves as if he had been here yesterday, and anything out of the ordinary would tell him exactly where his enemies were.

Of course, no one was perfect, so he wouldn't rely only on his own memory of the place. He hadn't been there in the past fifteen years and more – who knows what might have changed during that time! – so he extended a chakra force-field around himself that would give him a few seconds warning if there was an obstacle ahead. All higher-ranked shinobi learned to do this, and he didn't doubt that his pursuers would do the same.

Hearing four splashes of water behind him, Harry smirked and hurried down one of the numerous corridors. _'Looks like the Akatsuki finally found out about the wet landing. That underground lake really is a blessing! Not only does it make sure you land softly, it gives you a bath, and it makes sure that anyone who's chakra-signature isn't keyed into the wards, has a heck of a problem getting away.'_

"What the hell-!?!?!" Deidara's voice echoed through the cave-systems, along with surprised exclamations from the other three, and the sound of viciously splashing water.

'_Ah, they met Fido.'_ Harry's smirk widened. _'Who would have known that Hogwarts' giant squid had a cousin in the Shinobi Continent? And one adapted to living in an underground lake in an enormous cave-system? You don't find that everyday. I wonder how those four will get out of-'_

Harry's thoughts were cut off by several pissed-off shouts of "Deidara! No!" and "**Kibaku Nendo: Torigata!**" (_Exploding Clay: Bird-shaped!_), followed by many small explosions.

Now, if this had been a normal system of caves, and hadn't been used in the past by a S-class nuke-nin, then the worst the four Akatsuki might have expected from the explosion was that stones fell down from the ceiling, some shaking, and then all would be back to normal with the bonus of them being free from the grips of a giant squid. However, as the case was, the caves _had_ been used by an S-class nuke-nin, and they were far from normal. So, as soon as Deidara's explosions were over, they were followed by an enormous explosion caused by numerous exploding tags placed strategically all around the cave and, most importantly, the tunnel and only exit.

The ANBU Squad Commander winced at the echoing explosion, and hurriedly threw himself into a small crack in the wall in order to avoid the stones that hailed down from the ceiling, and leaned against one of the walls to keep his balance as the entire mountain shook like crazy. It took some time before everything settled again, and Harry dared to exit his little hideout, coughing to clear the dust from his lungs. He looked back down the corridor, and wondered if the Akatsuki-members were still alive, then shook his head slightly, and smirked darkly.

'_If the explosion and it's reaction didn't kill any of them, then their wandering around these caves certainly will. The idiots just blocked their only exit out of here with many tonnes of stone. I, on the other hand, can and will simply apparate out. A brilliant but simple trap.'_ He thought as he moved further down the corridor. He was aiming to reach a specific piece of wall, and hoped to activate yet another little safety-measure that Orochimaru had insisted on, but which had never been used. _'Who would have known that my grandfather would be thrilled when being told about the moving halls, corridors, rooms and staircases of Hogwarts? And he is right, they do create a wonderful little trap for unwelcome guests. Ah, here we are!'_

He felt along the rough stone until he reached a small piece of surface that was suspiciously smooth. Pushing a chakra-covered hand against said surface, Harry was rewarded with the feeling of the entire cave-system almost humming with life for a few seconds, before the magic seeped back into the stone, hidden from anyone with less chakra-sensitivity than a top-trained wizard – i.e. the four trapped Akatsuki had very little chance of understanding what was going on, and even if they did figure it out, they wouldn't be able to turn it off seeing as the trap was keyed in on Harry's and Orochimaru's chakra signatures, and _only_ theirs.

Harry didn't waste more time and apparated out of there. He appeared on the other side of town, and far away from the previous entrance to the cave-systems. This had set him back about an hour of travel, but he didn't care. He didn't want to know if the Akatsuki had left any surprises there, or if there was another Akatsuki waiting as backup.

The green-eyed man hummed as he dusted off his clothes, and started running through the trees again. _'I suppose, once again, that I have Kabuto to thank for this attack. But two attacks in such a short span of time… he must be getting desperate for some reason. The most logical explanation to this would be if Orochimaru is more or less ready to start working on another plot, a plot that he needs me for. Well, I suppose I shall know as soon as I get to the hideout.'_

The journey went swiftly, and Harry – after having used the night to rest up – reached the hideout by midday the next day. He quickly entered the underground corridors of the hideout, and easily made his way through the confusing twists, turns and forks in the road. After really thinking over the situation with Kabuto, Harry was far from a happy camper, and he practically stalked down the corridors, killer intent practically flowing off of him in waves. There was no way that Kabuto would hinder him from seeing Orochimaru this time, and it was about time that the Snake Sannin realised just what his prized medic-nin was up to.

'_Congratulations, Kabuto-san, you have finally managed to piss me off.'_ Harry growled mentally as he made his way towards Orochimaru's, well, throne-room for lack of a better word. _'You want to play nasty, Kabuto? I'll show you nasty!'_

The doors were engraved with snakes – what a surprise – and there were two snakes hidden in the shadows acting as guards. But a single, angry hiss frightened them off, and Harry took a deep breath to prepare himself. Then he knocked on the doors, and entered.

'_Let the games begin.'_

-x-x-x-x-

There, what do you think?

The Orochimaru Arc finally begins!

I just couldn't resist putting in that part with Ron and Rukia. I found it somewhat cute! The Mizukage being afraid of a pregnant woman!

A small sentence in this chapter inspired by a dialogue in the movie '_Sahara'_, based on a Dirk Pitt-adventure by Clive Cussler. Love that movie! Especially Al!

About the Akatsuki-members, well, I just couldn't resists. It should be easy to guess who the other two Akatsuki are! I am sorry if I totally butchered that part, but as they say, third time's the charm. This is the third time that Kabuto has organised an attack on Harry, and, well, next chapter he gets what's coming to him.

And as for the last chapter. Well, I am thoroughly sorry about that, and I cannot believe that I couldn't write it any better. Yes, Team Seven have very little to do or say in that chapter, and descriptions are scarce, but with writer's block and school I rewrote the damn thing about three times before it became as it did. Perhaps, in the future, I will edit it and add some description or more dialogue to Team Seven, but not right now. Sorry.

Thanks to:

Morrolan, lilyflower01, azilla, Elementh, BasicallyAnIdiot, Kingdark, dark672, Adnexus, Honebar, Morbious20, kirallie, Talchy, PsychoWing, Fattyaddy-99, RandomFanGirl247, NamelessHeretic, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, Akila, ladykind, momocolady, Fate, Beta the Second, Wolven Spirits, Lazy-Hime, Abby K, dm, 2stupid, kerricarri, Minty Chinchilla, Chosha Kurenai, Lord Myst, morissa, Twin Tails Speed, Rococophile, Z-AKA Andrea-, stoictimer, potterinu, Unseen Moon, and Shinobi's Fire.


	34. Chapter 34

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note: **Hi, people! Sorry about the wait, but exams took over my life. Now I'm, fortunately, on summer vacation, so I can write as much as I like… until my summer job starts, but that's another thing. Long chapter ahead, folks, so enjoy, have fun, and please review at the end!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

'_Let the games begin!'_ Harry growled mentally as he pushed open the doors to Orochimaru's throne room. The room he entered was oblong with thick pillars of dark marble holding up the caved roof. On the far walls to the left and to the right, one could barely spot the angry orange and red colours of torches, but these barely gave any light at all what with being practically hidden by the numerous pillars. The entire thing served to give off a rather unsettling feeling, and it didn't help that the aisle was almost as dark as night and only got darker and darker until the throne itself. The entire thing simply screamed "DEATH TRAP!", but Harry ignored it and stalked off through the room, ignoring the way the doors had closed themselves after him.

About halfway down the aisle he dodged a shower of shuriken and kunai almost absentmindedly, and returned the favour by simply using the_accio_-spell, and simply summoned his attacker to him. While the unknown assailant was flying towards him – and bumping loudly into the numerous pillars – Harry also cast an _expelliarmus_ to rid the other of any and all weapons, before neatly catching the perpetrator by the neck, and effortlessly holding him several inches off the floor.

"Why so shocked?" the green-eyed man hissed at his victim. "What with all your shenanigans these past few months, you cannot honestly say that you didn't expect this to happen, ne, Ka-bu-to?"

Kabuto's eyes glittered behind his spectacles, his hands gripping Harry's arm in an attempt to keep himself from being strangled. However, he wasn't so shocked at this development that he didn't have his own tricks ready for use, and his hands were glowing a mint-y blue, ready for action. "Wh-whatever can you be… be ta-halking about, Ha-Harry-sama?" he managed to gasp out.

"I suppose that all those collisions with the pillars has caused you to lose your memory?"

"Who knows? Anything is possible with those secret techniques of yours." The silver-haired medic-nin smirked slightly.

"You really are an annoying piece of filth," Harry muttered almost in amazement, but then shrugged as well as he could. "Doesn't matter. This will soon reach the ears of Orochimaru-sama, Kabuto, and then we shall see just how bad your memory is." He dropped Kabuto and walked off into the darkness. Both he and Kabuto knew that this would be the first face-to-face confrontation between them, and they were both looking forward to it. Both would finally get the chance to rid themselves of the biggest thorn in their side, and this way there was little chance of Orochimaru throwing a temper tantrum because either his grandson or medic-nin had been killed.

Orochimaru himself hadn't been in the throne room at the point of the short confrontation, but the second he spotted two very hostile figures in the top balcony overlooking the underground training pitch, he realised what it was all about. He knew very well that Harry hated the fact that the Snake Sannin had sneaked in another spy in Konoha other than him, and he also knew that Kabuto harboured a great distaste towards his green-eyed grandson and the position in Orochimaru's ranks said grandson held. Since this was the first time the two in question had been in the same room together, Orochimaru hadn't been able to really measure the two young men's hate for one another, but now he did, and he almost shivered in glee at the malevolent chakra that started to flow through the large room.

'_This promises to be very entertaining and informative,'_ the pale man chuckled quietly, and waited until Harry and Kabuto appeared before him. _'Their hatred for each other isn't the only thing that needs to be aired today. Both of them have to answer to some of my own questions regarding the past couple of months. Yare, yare, they started without me.'_ He thought almost absentmindedly upon spotting the finger-shaped bruises already appearing on Kabuto's neck.

Harry had been making observations of his own, and the first and most obvious of these was the way Orochimaru's arms simply hung down by his sides, never moving an inch, and the few visible parts having adopted a dull and dead, down-right grey skin-tone with large, black flakes of skin peeling off. _'Seems as though the reports were right. Thanks to the Sandaime Hokage my dear grandfather no longer has the use of his arms anymore. This explains Kabuto's flurry of attacks, and my involvement in Orochimaru's new scheme. He wants to use me as his next host-body, and soon. Things have really started to roll.'_

There was a short silence as the three men observed each other, but finally Orochimaru broke the silence. "And what would be the reason for this clearly impending fight?"

'_As if you didn't know, you old bastard.' _Harry thought, but replied nonetheless. "I accuse Kabuto of being a traitor and a murderer." He said simply.

"I accuse Harry of the very same thing, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto pushed his glasses up with a finger.

Orochimaru couldn't help but marvel over the fact just how strange this situation might seem to an outsider – I mean, _shinobi_ of all people talking of traitors and murderers! – but then he focused back on the situation. Despite the fact that most of a shinobi's career consisted of betraying one side in favour of another, and murdering people, when it came to matters amongst themselves they were very strict, and accusations such as these weren't taken lightly. "I do hope that you have some heavy proof for this?"

Designed to be quick and used out on missions meant that the proceedings were simple and with little to no formality. The two shinobi accusing each other – in this case Harry and Kabuto – would take turns in accusing each other and defending themselves, trying to build up as strong a case against their opponent as possible. The witnesses – i.e. Orochimaru – would then judge who was in the right, question them further, or simply allow them to fight each other to the death to determine the winner.

"I will go first," Kabuto spoke up, sending a small, triumphant smirk towards Harry.

Harry simply raised an eyebrow, and didn't react further. Kabuto may have presented himself as the more honest and loyal person by going first, giving off the impression that he had little to nothing to hide from Orochimaru, but Harry could now observe how the silver-haired medic-nin worked, and thusly use the time to build up a stronger case against him. To the ANBU Squad Commander it didn't really matter who went first because he was certain of one thing: he would not lose.

'_Failure is not an option. That is one of the first things that Orochimaru beat into me.'_ He thought. _'Time to follow it up.'_

As already said, these proceedings were designed to be as simple and quick as possible, so there would be no fancy words and long speeches used. They wouldn't beat around the bush, but go straight for the jugular in their attacks on each other, and that was the way all shinobi preferred it.

Kabuto waited for Orochimaru to give the go-ahead, before he started laying out his case. "First of all I would like to point out a fact that we all know: Harry hasn't told you everything he knows about numerous things, Orochimaru-sama."

Harry snorted at the accusation. "The things that I haven't told Orochimaru-sama are simple things that have no impact at all. Totally unimportant, and Orochimaru-sama knows this. What use would he have for a potion that turns your hair purple, or a charm that makes you laugh like an idiot until someone casts the counter? Or would Orochimaru-sama really need to know when and exactly how the pervert Jiraiya does the horizontal tango with his numerous women?"

"Very valid point." Orochimaru agreed, looking slightly put off at the thought.

"Now it's my turn." The green-eyed man sneered. "Kabuto didn't heal Kimimaro-kun. He didn't give him the potions that I sent, nor did he do anything else to save him. When I dropped by before my mission to the Wizarding World, Kimimaro was almost dead and the potions were hidden away at the back of the linen closet."

Orochimaru raised a curious eyebrow at this piece of information. Kabuto hadn't told him anything about this at all.

"How was I to know that the potions would work?" Kabuto defended himself while pushing his glasses back in place. "For all we know that could have been poison and not a healing draught at all – and all we had was Harry's word to trust. Besides, not even Tsunade-san could have healed such an illness that Kimimaro suffered from since there's no known cure. What made Harry think that those wizards could have the expertise to do something that not even _she_ could? And, while we are at it, it is noteworthy to mention that Harry has taken Kimimaro without Orochimaru-sama's knowledge or approval. We haven't seen or heard from Kimimaro since then, so we might as well assume that Harry killed him."

"Do not assume things that you have no knowledge about, you fool. I took Kimimaro, yes, and I brought him to the Wizarding World. Calling in a few favours I left him in the very capable hands of a healer, and the last thing I heard Kimimaro was well on his way to recovery. Not only did this action save his life, but we now also have a spy in the Wizarding world which none of the Hidden Villages do, which gives us a clear advantage." The ANBU Squad Commander replied as though talking to a child. "Speaking of healings, I wonder why you haven't healed Orochimaru-sama's arms, or, at least, dulled the pain?"

The old Snake himself turned to Kabuto, very keen about the answer. If he had been in unnecessary pain for the past couple of months just because Kabuto wanted to reach his own goals, then he would bloody well kill the medic-nin.

This time it was Kabuto who snorted. "There is no cure for this, as sad as it is to say. The Shinigami that the Sandaime Hokage called up cut off the arms of Orochimaru-sama's soul, and there is nothing in existence that can heal such a wound, or take away the pain."

"Shows how much you know," Harry smirked. "Even though I have to agree that there is nothing that could heal the wound, I happen to know about something that _will_ take away the pain completely, and it is currently stored in my rooms here, ready for use. If you hadn't hindered the communications between myself and Orochimaru-sama, then months of pain could have been avoided."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed into slits. "Kabuto?" he hissed angrily.

"Snakes are slow when travelling, they are very territorial, and they get easily distracted. Who is to say that the snakes you sent weren't distracted by a nice meal on the way, and then were picked off by another predator like the mongoose? And those snakes that reached the HQ could have easily gotten into a fight with one of the other snakes that roam the place, and thusly be killed without delivering their messages." The medic-nin defended himself as best he could. "And concerning the fact that Harry knows and is in possession of something that can take away all the pain in Orochimaru-sama's arms, then we come back to my first accusation of Harry not telling us everything he knows."

Harry had to admit that he was impressed by Kabuto's ability to deliver this little speech with such a straight face. Everyone knew that he had lost any ground he might have gained by going first. Orochimaru didn't like it when people insulted his snakes and, indirectly, himself, and it was clear for anyone to see that the old Snake was really, really unhappy right now. Harry couldn't help but smirk slightly at this, a dark and dangerous look passing across his face._'And I'm not quite yet finished with you, Kabuto.'_

"Everyone knows that Harry plots his own plans to reach his own goals – the latest newspaper article in the Fire Country News about his closeness to certain people in Konoha, just proves this. This in turn has almost ruined many of Orochimaru-sama's plans concerning the village in question, and it makes me wonder if Harry seems to be getting a bit too close to the people of Konohagakure. How else can we explain the fact that the village seemed to be surprisingly prepared for the attack during the Chunnin Exams?"

"You really are a fool, aren't you?" the green-eyed man mumbled. "All shinobi plot and plan – it is almost a part of our nature – but we are only human, and some failures are to be expected. Besides, not only were all of my plans are intended to help Orochimaru-sama reach his goals, but I have never ruined any of the plans Orochimaru-sama himself has made. And to be a good spy one must gain a certain amount of trust and closeness with the victims. As for the accusations of me telling Konoha what to expect during the Chunnin Exam, it is baseless. I wasn't even there during that time, but you most certainly were, Kabuto. Why couldn't you have warned the village of the impending attack?"

Orochimaru observed all of this with great interest. Many things that he hadn't known about were being revealed to him, and he found himself both admiring Harry and Kabuto for keeping it all from him, and also hating them for it. There was too much plotting going around for his tastes, especially since he wasn't the mastermind behind said plotting.

Kabuto scowled. "You killed Tayuya, Jiroubu, Sakon-Ukon and Kidoumaru."

"What else was I supposed to do when there was practically a platoon of hunter-nin there? Besides, you were the one stupid enough to send those four to get me when I was right in the middle of a mission. There is something known as subtlety, Kabuto, you should learn how to use it."

Kabuto glared. "And what about your mission to the Wizarding World? It was suspiciously convenient for you to disappear just before the attack during the exams. Were you afraid to be exposed as the traitor you are?"

"I had a choice of whether or not to take the mission, but I decided that I would be more useful to Orochimaru-sama if I could continue to spy on the happenings in Konoha until he specifically ordered me to return." Harry said. "And you shouldn't talk, Kabuto, what with you sending the Akatsuki after me twice, and forming a group of rogue wizards and nuke-nin to kill me."

"What? Is this true?" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed again. He had taken great pride in the fact that Harry held one of the nine demons, and he had planned to use the demon as a bargaining chip in the future, but now that the Akatsuki knew about it everything was shot to hell. The organisation wouldn't stop chasing Harry until they got a hold of the Cerberus, and that could potentially ruin a lot of Orochimaru's plans. Suddenly Harry's long absence was understandable; if he had fought with the Akatsuki Orochimaru was, quite frankly, surprised to see his grandson so quickly on the mend.

"It is," the ANBU Squad Commander confirmed. "I was attacked by Akasuna no Sasori and Deidara upon my return from the Wizarding World, resulting in about a month off duty. However, the situation in Konoha was rather chaotic at the time, and as the highest point of authority it fell to me to organise everything. I literally worked myself sick and the wounds opened again, leading to another two weeks of bed rest. And there is no way that Tsunade, as the Godaime Hokage, would let me out of the village until she was absolutely certain that I was loyal. When I finally got a mission out of the village, I was attacked by the group of nuke-nin and rogue wizards, delaying me further. And if that wasn't enough, I was also attacked by Sasori, Deidara, Hidan and Kakuzu of the Akatsuki just yesterday, and had to use the underground cave system with the giant squid to escape. All in all, it is your fault Kabuto."

"What nonsense," the medic-nin snorted. "The Akatsuki have ears and eyes everywhere, so how can you suspect me of telling them that? And you're perfectly capable of making enemies on your own, Harry, and it is no great shock that a group of these enemies – nuke-nin and rogue wizards – banded together to get revenge. You have absolutely no proof on any of this."

Harry raised an eyebrow, and went in for the killing blow. "Oh really? Then I suppose that the fact that the group of nuke-nin and rogue wizards mentioned your appearance? Or that Sasori and Deidara mentioned you by name? Or the fact that you have been an Akatsuki sleeper agent for years before you finally gave your full loyalty to Orochimaru-sama?"

If Kabuto had been anything but a highly-skilled shinobi, he would've winced and started to retreat. But instead all he did was to narrow his eyes dangerously, and started planning how to defeat his opponent in the ensuing fight. _'Exactly how does one beat an ANBU Squad Commander who has managed to keep most of his skills under wrap?'_

Orochimaru was incensed about this entire situation. Both Harry and Kabuto had very valid points, and both had been doing a heck of a lot of things behind his back, but in the end he had to admit that Harry had won this round. His grandson managed to calmly and logically explain away every singe accusation thrown at him, return with his own sharp and cutting remarks, and also had pointed out that most of it all was out of his control, or had been beneficial to Orochimaru's cause no matter just how rocky it had all started.

"We will be having a long talk afterwards, Kabuto," the Snake Sannin growled his threat, then retreated towards the balconies to give room for the two that would now fight. "Oh, and Harry-kun?"

"Hn?"

"Despite everything, please refrain from killing Kabuto. He's the only qualified medic-nin we have right now." With that parting remark, Orochimaru left the ring completely. A minute later he appeared again in the third-floor balcony, ready to watch the show.

"I must admit that I've been waiting for this chance for quite a while," Kabuto commented as he and Harry circled each other.

"You are not the only one." Harry replied, carefully watching every move the other made. For a moment the green-eyed man weighted the pros and cons of going all out in this fight.

Pro: Kabuto would be beaten into a pulp in one, two, three.

Con: Orochimaru would finally get the measure of Harry's true talent.

'_Screw this, I'm too pissed off right now to do anything by half.'_ Harry decided suddenly, a dark, ominous and somewhat unhinged smirk that was a carbon-copy of Orochimaru's own expression, crossing his face.

The silver-haired medic-nin opposite Harry couldn't suppress a small shudder upon seeing that particular expression. On Orochimaru the expression was regular, and he had quickly gotten used to seeing it. But since he had never seen it on Harry before, the entire thing seemed just wrong and even more freaky than one might have expected._'Pull yourself together! It's only an arrangements of facial muscles, he's not even emitting any killer intent!'_ he growled to himself.

"I hope that you are prepared to take responsibility for your actions," the green-eyed man spoke in a tone that matched his dark expression. "Because I am not about to go easy on you, precious healer or not."

"Hmm," was Kabuto's reply as he pushed his glasses up again.

"Excellent!" Harry exclaimed in malicious delight, before he suddenly disappeared from all senses.

The first attack came hard and fast and totally out of the blue, and Kabuto hardly had the time to feel the pain from the first hit before he was barraged with numberless others. The teenager suddenly found himself in midair without having a single idea of how the hell he got there and when. When Harry suddenly appeared right above him for only a second and delivered a deadly kick towards his upper chest and neck, it was only pure instinct that made Kabuto raise his arms and cross them in an attempt to protect himself and his vulnerable throat. When the kick connected with his arms it hurt like hell, and the pain was soon magnified when his back hit the rough, hard stone floor, creating a small crater upon impact.

For a second, as the smoke, debris and dust cleared, Kabuto simply laid there in shock subconsciously using his skills to heal his wounds._'That was… fast…'_ was the thing running through his mind. _'He is very fast. Faster than any records in Konoha had ever noted, faster than any rumour said. The information in my nin-cards doesn't even come close to doing his speed justice! That indicates that not only were the records wrong about his speed, but they might have been wrong about his other skills as well – which means that I will have to be extra careful, especially considering he used that weird technique on me earlier and not only robbed me of my weapons, but summoned me directly to him without using a summoning scroll. Wand-shinobi skills, most likely.'_

Harry simply stood to the side and watched as Kabuto gathered himself and his thoughts, and couldn't help but shake his head. If Orochimaru hadn't given the order that Kabuto should live, then the green-eyed man wouldn't have waited and would have finished the medic-nin before said shinobi had even landed. But since the order had been issued, Harry had to take his revenge by thoroughly beating the crap out of Kabuto in a manner as painful, humiliating, quick and permanently lasting as possible.

"Already had enough?" Harry asked, carefully adjusting the tone of his voice and his stance, giving off a taunting and mocking picture. He doubted that Kabuto, a master manipulator himself, would fall for it, but it never hurt to try.

Kabuto slowly picked himself out of the small crater, and stretched his arms giving off a _pop_ as bones shifted. He pushed his glasses up his nose again, and pinned Harry with a serious look. "You've withheld much information, Harry, and not only about your relations with Konoha, but also about yourself."

"Haven't we all?" the green-eyed man snorted in return. "Is that all you do, Kabuto? Talk, talk, talk? No wonder the shinobi of Sound seem to drop like flies around our ears."

The younger man twitched. "Excuse me?"

'_By the sound of his voice and the uncontrolled changes in his posture, he doesn't to like having his skills as a medic-nin questioned. Now this could be useful._' Harry's eyebrow raised itself a scant millimetre. "I was simply stating a statistic fact. After you joined Orochimaru-sama, there have been numerous pointless deaths because you deemed those shinobi beyond help." Harry stepped closer to Kabuto, and practically whispered the next part. "You aren't the only one who does his homework. Did you really think that I didn't research everything I could about you as soon as I knew that you were my enemy?"

The silver-haired young man took this chance to attack, but Harry was far too fast and was way out of Kabuto's reach before the other could follow up with another attack. Harry knew that if Kabuto hit him even once he might be in serious trouble. Tsunade had given him a quick run-through of her fight with the teen, and had reluctantly praised Kabuto's skills highly.

'_Ergo we are back to my earlier decision of using wizarding spells and curses to end this fight. And thanks to the Death Eaters I have several rather nasty surprises lined up for our little, wannabe snake.'_ The ANBU Squad Commander thought as he watched his opponent. _'Time to end his foolishness.'_

Harry didn't waste any time, drew his wand and at once started casting any and all spells, curses and charms that he knew of. It didn't matter if it was a spell to clean the room, a charm to make you laugh, or a curse that could spill your guts on the floor, he cast them all; and although Kabuto noticed that some of the spells constantly coming his way weren't lethal in any way, he could never be really sure since he had next to no knowledge of it. Even trying to identify the spells by colour didn't work at all, as he had discovered early on when he had first been hit by a Bouncing Charm, decided that it was a good way of preserving his strength, let himself be hit by the next similarly-coloured beam of light, and found himself suffering the pains of the Cruciatus Curse.

"Despite the fact that you keep healing yourself, your skills as a medic-nin still suck!" the green-eyed man smirked darkly.

Kabuto retaliated by throwing kunai and shuriken, not that it helped much.

"What? Did I hit the nail on the head there?"

Up in the third balcony Orochimaru was watching the ensuing fight with great interest – well, the correct term would have been massacre, but since Kabuto wouldn't die this time, that particular term couldn't be used so he was stuck with using an inadequate description. Either way, the happenings in the arena were yet another eye-opened to Orochimaru. He realised that Harry really had changed in the many years since the two had met, changed even more than Orochimaru had ever planned for. He was much, much faster, much more skilled, much stronger, much more everything else than had been reported.

'_My dear grandson could be a serious threat to me if it ever came to that.' _That was Orochimaru's final conclusion, and the old Snake had to admit that he felt very disturbed by that fact.

Down in the arena Harry hadn't let up on his constant barrage of spells, and Kabuto wasn't holding up good against it all. The speed was phenomenal, no two spells came from the same direction at the same time, and kunai, senbon and shuriken were hidden in the chaos. It was like standing in the middle of a twister, or in an Armageddon-like storm, and it was impossible to avoid anything anymore. All Kabuto could do was to try to avoid being accidentally hit in a vital place, and heal himself as quickly as possible, but even that was getting more and more difficult.

Finally a few vicious Reductor curses hit Kabuto's kneecaps and ribs, and the young medic-nin went down with a painful scream. But it didn't stop there. As he was falling he was hit with curse upon curse of bone-breakers, cruciatus, and gods knew what else. All Kabuto could feel at the time was immeasurable pain. At this point the spells stopped completely, and Harry – who wasn't even out of breath! – approached the fallen form.

"How…" the silver-haired teen coughed and panted. "I… I d-did my research… I know eve-everything ab-about you, a-and… and y-yet you…"

Harry crouched down beside him, that dark smirk still on his face. "Because we are different, Kabuto. You may be on a higher-jounnin level skill wise, but you are still a trained medic-nin, and you fight best when in close quarters, that's what all your techniques are designed for – that is, _if_ you fight at all. I, on the other hand, am different. I can adapt to anything you throw at me. I became an ANBU Squad Commander for a reason, you know, and I've held that position for the past ten years."

Kabuto's eyes grew large, and he coughed up blood in his floundering to say something. "… un-unheard… imposssssibl-ble… n-never… h-held so long… the… the skills a-and s-str-strength re-required… b-both phy-physical and m-mental… Orochimaru-sama n-never told… inconceivable…"

"That is one piece of information you won't find in any record. _Ever_." The green eyes glittered deviously. Then he suddenly patted the silver hair matted with blood, mocking Kabuto further. "Now you be a good medic-nin and put yourself together as best as you can. There will be some serious damage there, and I can already see that you will most likely lose one foot. And as your personal physician I proscribe lots of bed-rest for the foreseeable future." Harry didn't even bother to look back as he left the beaten and broken body, and jumped up the levels only to land in front of Orochimaru.

Orochimaru himself simply stared at Kabuto's non-moving body for another moment, before turning his attention to Harry. "I thought I told you not to kill him, Harry-kun."

"I didn't do anything."

"He looks pretty dead to me." The Snake Sannin said, and if he could have he would've pointed at his beaten medic-nin.

"He's not dead, he's dead-_ish_. There is a bit of a difference there." Harry replied nonchalantly and headed towards the exit. "I'll go get you that pain-killer potion now," he threw over his shoulder before he disappeared out of sight.

Orochimaru stared after his grandson, his eyes narrowing. _'Yes, definitely a threat to me if there ever was one. I realise now that I am not disturbed by this fact. No, it's more like I'm… like I'm… afraid…'_

-x-x-x-x-

There, done. Please tell me what you think!

I've just discovered that this story has been in the works for two years now, and that I am on the 34 – that is _**34!**_ – chapter. I really must be going insane! **.'**

No, my chapters haven't gotten shorter, in fact, they have gotten_longer_. Besides, can't write mammoth-chapters every time. And yes, I did have a point with the Akatsuki in the last chapter. Hopefully some of that became clear in this chapter – I'm all for third-time's-the-charm – but that isn't the only reason. The rest will be revealed later on.

Kudos to those who got the two new Akatsuki members last chapter. It was – drum-roll please – Hidan and Kakuzu! Not that it was all that difficult to figure out… -.-'

Thanks to:

Adnexus, Darkingfire, azilla, Honebar, Shinobi's Fire, The Icebird, Angranse, Chosha Kurenai, Anave Lipad, Kingdark, PsuchoWing, CRaZY TeDDy, dark672, Elementh, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, Monks1, momocolady, GreyGryph, Talchy, NamelessHeretic, TheWiseSirIvanTheShadowLord, Lord Myst, Abby K, Dragonmage182, Wolven Spirits, Twin Tails Speed, Lazy-Hime, kirallie, Rococophile, XinnLajgin, stoictimer, Sarah R Potter, Morbious20, Beta the Second, AceZ-Shadow, insanechildfanfic, 2stupid, Sweet-single, Gryffindors, Lady Threarah, Morrolan, Sk8er7, Talon Phoenix, Ore no Naruto, y, Twilight Dusk, Memories-of-the-Shadows, chibi-daydreamer, RavenXI, sendoh11, Lady Silverhawk, Draeconin, Raffy, G, Jetede and yaaaaaaayme.


	35. Chapter 35

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note: **Sorry about the long wait. The horrible enemy known as Real Life kidnapped me, but I've managed to escape and have now returned to the insanity of Wonderland! Please enjoy the following chapter, and be so kind as to review at the end as well.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Thirty-Five**

_Past the point of no return,  
no backward glances:  
The games we've played 'til now are at an end.  
Past all thought of "if" or "when",  
no use resisting:  
Abandon thought and let the dream descend._  
**"Point of no Return" – Phantom of the Opera.**

Grandfather and grandson met up again about half an hour later in Orochimaru's personal living room slash creepy office. The shelves went all around the room, filled with many weird things in jars, scrolls, and other objects. The tables were just as bad, and there were barely any place for the few candles that lighted the room.

Harry poured the potion into a glass, put in a straw and then simply left it on the table in front of Orochimaru to drink. The old Snake scowled slightly at the fact that he had to bend down to suck at the straw, but it was marginally better than having someone hold the glass for him, or give the potion to him with a spoon. He quickly drank the potion, grimaced at the horrid taste, then shuddered as the pain finally seeped away.

"I told you it would work," Harry stated from his position. "But it will not last forever. You have about a fortnight before the potion wears off, and you cannot take a second dose."

"And why not, grandson of mine?" Orochimaru asked as he settled down in a chair.

"Firstly because I do not have any more of said potion. Secondly because it takes almost a whole month to brew – and I don't have the skills for it; which means that it would have to be made in the wand-shinobi world, and then would get here for another five months since the trading caravan just passed through. And thirdly, and most importantly, it only works once. Do not ask me how or why, I'm not a Potion's Master, but that's the way it is." Harry delivered this speech in a matter-of-fact voice, brooking no argument. He conveniently forgot to mention that a certain Severus Snape, Potion's Master extraordinaire, had taken up residence in the Snow Country.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You are forcing my hand, Harry-kun. Preparations for my plans aren't finished yet."

'_This is exactly what I was hoping for.' _Harry mused to himself with an internal smirk. "Do not blame this on me, Orochimaru-sama. If Kabuto hadn't hindered our communications, then a new batch of the potion could've come through with the most recent trading caravan."

"And I shall be having a few serious words with Kabuto-kun as soon as he is fit again."

The ANBU Squad Commander couldn't help the self-satisfied smirk from taking residence on his lips at that. The older man's voice was laden with a snake-like hissing sound, a sure sign that Orochimaru was as pissed off as he could ever get. _'And it was very fun to beat the crap out of that silver-haired, spectacled menace.'_

The Snake Sannin noticed the small smirk, but didn't comment on it verbally. However, he couldn't help a deep-seated worry from forming in his stomach. When a shinobi didn't show any remorse in killing a fellow shinobi from the same side, then things got unpredictable. Worse was the fact that Harry was already as unpredictable as they come. Orochimaru didn't like unpredictable in his pawns. "How go things in Konoha lately? Does Tsunade have the loyalty of the shinobi? How about that civil war of the Uchiha Clan?"

"Things are slowly returning to normal, Orochimaru-sama." Harry reported. "Tsunade is slowly but surely earning the loyalty and trust of the shinobi – from Academy student to the highest of ANBU and Hunter-nin. The Uchiha Clan, on the other hand, have completely divided itself into two factions, the Uchiha and the Uchiwa. Itachi-san has become the leader of the Uchiha side, whilst Fugaku-san remains the leader of the more old-fashioned Uchiwa."

"Can we take advantage of the situation?"

"Most likely. Shisui-san, on whom you placed the Seal, stayed behind with the Uchiwa's. He has come to regret that choice; both sides view him as a traitor. Itachi because Shisui broke his promise to follow him to hell and back, and Fugaku because Shisui was Itachi's best friend and thinks that Shisui stayed behind to spy on the Uchiwa." This was true to some extent. Shisui had only stayed because the girl he loved was a servant in Fugaku's household.

Orochimaru chuckled. "That _poor_ boy."

"Indeed." Harry raised an eyebrow. "You want me to bring Shisui-san over to our little family?"

"Yes," came the instant reply. "It is finally time for you to show your true colours, grandson of mine. I will need your utter help with my next plan if it is to be done on time, and I cannot have you all the way in Konoha when I need you here. It is time for you to betray Konoha and return here to where you belong. And as salt being poured into the wound, bring with you young Shisui-san." By the end of this little speech Orochimaru was smirking in dark glee as he imagined the chaos that would happen in Konoha once Harry betrayed them.

Harry smirked darkly as well, but voiced his reservations. "Are you absolutely sure that you don't want me to spy anymore? What with a new Hokage in place we might benefit from knowing more about her defence tactics, and so on."

"Are you disobeying my orders, Harry-kun?"

"Not at all. Just a reasonable question."

The old Snake snorted and sneered. "I do not need you to spy anymore. Tsunade was on my team when I was a gennin, and I know how she thinks. I need you here, and I need you as soon as possible. You have a fortnight to return back here with Shisui-san, otherwise I'll consider you a traitor and kill you along with the rest of Konoha when the time comes."

The green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander tactfully and wisely backed down, and bowed slightly to Orochimaru. After so many years of observing his grandfather, Harry knew exactly when he was pushing the limits and knew exactly when to fold. "As you wish, Orochimaru-sama."

"Go, and either come back with Shisui-san, or do not come back at all."

Harry executed another short bow, before he calmly walked out of the room, through the winding hallways and corridors of the underground hideout, and finally emerged again into fresh air. It was night outside, and the stars were twinkling coldly. Winter was in the air, and Harry spent a moment simply standing there, taking in the chilly night air, and gearing himself up for what was to come. In a fortnight he would fight his grandfather to the death, and it was a battle that would decide the fate of both the Shinobi Continents and the wizarding world.

'_If only things had gone slightly different, we might have made a good family, grandfather. Instead, I left the house-elf life of the Dursley household, only to end up as a killing machine for your desires. From the frying pan and into the fire.'_ He sighed. _'No, we never were a true family, Orochimaru, and that was your biggest mistake.'_

Harry reached into an inner pocket of his green vest, and pulled out his wolf-shaped ANBU mask. He put it on, and with it he could feel all doubt and remorse about what was to happen, slip away. Orochimaru deserved everything that was coming for him.

With a great leap he jumped into the trees and started racing at top-speed back towards Konoha. As he ran through(ran in) the trees, or on the ground, or jumped across rivers and roads, and avoided villages and other settlements, Harry never took a break and instead only slowed slightly when he felt himself getting tired. He had no time to slack off now. There was much to be done once he got back to Konoha, and there was little time to do it. He also brought out his communication medallion and contacted each and every single one of his agents currently on the Shinobi Continent.

'**The last stand against Orochimaru will be in a fortnight stop Konohagakure will need all allies stop This is the beginning of the end stop'**

Harry ran non-stop until he reached Konoha three days later. He didn't bother to check in with the guards at the gate. He knew he had been spotted by the Aburame and the Inuzuka that were still patrolling the outer perimeters around the Konoha, and several ANBU and Hunter-nin had also joined his run for a few minutes wondering if he had any orders for them, if they could expect an attack, or if an enemy was pursuing him, but Harry didn't say anything to them. He didn't even bother to wave them off, just picked up his pace until none of them could keep up with him, and that alone set the ANBU and Hunter-nin on high alert. Never before had Harry ignored them to such a degree that he didn't even look at them.

Jiraiya joined his mad dash as soon as Harry entered the village, the Frog Hermit looking very serious, his face set in stone. Several others joined them as well on the short sprint to the Hokage Tower, and Harry knew that word would spread quickly and that before long most of the important people would be making an appearance, demanding to know what was going on. However, first things first, Harry needed to talk to Tsunade and a few others in private.

When he got to the Hokage's office, not only did he find Tsunade, but Ron, Hermione and Gaara as well. He raised an eyebrow at this, and took off his ANBU mask. "That was quick."

Ron snorted, straightening his Mizukage robes slightly. "We've been preparing for this for the past nineteen years, Harry, ever since you took off with Orochimaru without any warning, so don't you dare tell me that we surprised you with our fast response."

"We are also the allies of Konoha. It would not honour this alliance if we did not offer our help." Gaara spoke up as emotionlessly as before, but his eyes weren't quite as hard as they used to be. He looked different now with a new outfit, more like a leader. And he obviously acted more like one as well since he was here at this meeting, wearing the robes of the Kazekage over his new clothes.

"Besides," Hermione threw in her own two cents. "Everyone here has a serious bone to pick with Orochimaru, so it is no wonder that everyone came as soon as they could."

Tsunade, for once clad in the robes of the Hokage, gestured for them all to take a seat. "Let's get this over with. We do not have much time in which to act."

-x-x-x-x-

Harry collapsed tiredly onto his futon, not having bothered to even change his clothes. The plans had been planned, the tasks had been assigned, some key people had been told the entire plan to make sure they avoided friendly fire when it came to it, while the rest were kept mostly in the dark about it all. Quite frankly it was a right old mess, with a weird sort of organised chaos at the middle.

'_My head hurts.'_ The green-eyed man groaned, barely managing to remove his weapons and drop them beside the futon. He didn't want to hurt himself during the night just because he forgot to remove his kunai and shuriken holders.

Finally snuggling down into his futon, Harry closed his eyes and relaxed. He was floating in that space just before true sleep, when the door to his apartment was opened and closed, and then was followed by the sound of footsteps heading straight towards the bedroom. The ANBU Squad Commander sighed, for a minute mourning the fact that he wouldn't be able to sleep yet, and then called out, "Stop skulking about like any old pervert, Naruto, and get in here."

There was an indignant squawk from the other side of the door, before said door was opened and Naruto came into the room. The boy had brought his own futon, pillow and blanket along, and now situated it right beside Harry's, all the time grumbling about not being a pervert. "I'm not a peeping tom, dammit!"

"Your words, not mine. I simply said you were a pervert. You can be a pervert and still be perfectly normal, Jiraiya and Ebisu simply go a wee bit too far in their pervert-ism." Harry smirked slightly. "Now, why the hell did you come here at this hour of the night? I thought you weren't afraid of the things that go bump in the night anymore?"

"I'm not afraid!" the blond's cheeks puffed out as he glared. "I'm twelve already! And no twelve-year-old's afraid of ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties, better believe it!"

Harry raised an eyebrow at that description. "This still doesn't tell me why you are here."

Naruto grumbled and looked away. "yug'wyl'vemet'morrow'mstaybe'indwannatalk."

The silence in the room was profound as the older male tried to understand what had been said, but in the end had to give up. "Would you care to repeat that in a language that everyone can understand? I didn't get a word of it."

"Heard some chunnin mention your return earlier, and that you went straight to the Hokage's office. You've been there since then, and all the shinobi seem to be gearing up for something." Naruto admitted. "Something big is going to happen, and you're in the middle of it all. I just wanted to talk to you before you leave again, nii-san."

Harry couldn't stifle the proud feeling that welled up in his chest. Naruto had deduced everything by simply observing people, and when said people were shinobi it said something. The young blonde was going to be an excellent Hokage if he kept this up. "I'm not going to leave for another day or so, brat. You could've waited until a more normal time of day to come in here, you know."

"I wouldn't know, you never tell me anything. And what's with those weird jutsu on that scroll, huh?! Me an' Sasuke almost didn't make it back without opening it, you know!!!!"

"Ah, but you _did_ make it."

"Well, yeah, but that's not the point!"

"I fail to see the point. You passed the test, and now you are undeniably a chunnin of Konoha. Congratulations. Now can we go to sleep?"

But Naruto wasn't to be denied that easily. He reached out with a hand and grabbed a hold of Harry's nose, and pulled lightly to make sure that he had Harry's undivided attention. It was something Harry-nii-san had used a couple of times before while explaining something, and now the jinchuuriki used it against the older man. "What's going on, nii-san?"

The ANBU Squad Commander simply stared at the young but serious face in front of him – slightly blocked by the hand holding onto his nose – and finally smiled. Not a smirk, not a grin or a fake smile, but a true smile that made his green eyes glitter slightly. "You really will become the best Hokage ever, Naruto."

Naruto removed his hand from his adopted brother's nose, but continued to stare seriously at those green eyes. "Tell me, please?"

"I have been spying on Orochimaru for the past nineteen years, and finally the time to stop the charade has come. We are going to attack Orochimaru, and destroy him completely."

Blue eyes widened. "But… wha-… no, you-"

"We have to move now before the Snake can get his plans into order. I left Team Seven because I had a meeting scheduled with Orochimaru, and I managed to force him to act way before everything was ready. We may not get a chance like this again, we have to take it, Naruto."

The young blond simply stared for a few moments, his eyes wide and frightened at the thought of what was to happen – and what could go wrong. "For nineteen years. You've been spying for nineteen years. That's just…"

Harry smirked, understanding the feelings of both awe and worry that were warring inside Naruto. Quite frankly, Harry himself was completely amazed that he had managed to spy on Orochimaru for so long without being discovered. "Aa."

Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself. "Why did you tell me?" he asked finally.

"Because you asked."

"B-but I'm only a newly-made chunnin! I don't have the necessary clearance for something like this! You could get in trouble!"

"Your rank doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have the necessary clearance, Naruto. More than one person within the ANBU doesn't even _have_ an official shinobi rank." The green-eyed man explained. "No, we do not base things on clearance alone, but also whether or not you are mature enough to handle the information given to you, and what you will do with said information."

"Eeeh?!"

"You have grown, Naruto, especially since the Chunnin Exam attacks. You have earned my respect. Your father would be proud." With that Harry snuggled down into his blankets, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

Naruto laid awake for a long time afterwards, thinking over everything that had been said that night. In the end he decided that he was both very proud and very worried. He was proud of having an adopted big brother like Harry, of said man's achievements, and of the thought that his father would've been proud of him, Naruto. But he was also inexplicably worried of what was to come – i.e. the upcoming and hopefully final battle against Orochimaru. These thoughts ran through his head over and over again, and he didn't get back to sleep until the sun finally started to rise.

-x-x-x-x-

Harry, once again dressed in his preferred ANBU uniform, was going over some of the rapports that had accumulated during his time away with Team Seven, and was making mental notes to send a couple of the newest and youngest ANBU on a writing course, when someone came knocking at the door to his office.

'_I wasn't expecting anyone until this evening. Everyone should be far too busy with preparations right now.'_ The green-eyed man mused silently. "Enter!"

The door opened, and in strode the last person Harry could have ever expected. The characteristic long coat, shin-armour, mini-skirt and fishnet-shirt covered – or uncovered, depends on whom one asked – a voluptuous female body. Brown hair was pulled back into a wild hair-do, and brownish-lilac eyes stared seriously at the wolf-masked ANBU Squad Commander as Mitarashi Anko closed the office door after herself and stalked over to stand in front of the desk.

"Good day to you, Mitarashi-san," Harry greeted her politely, but neutrally. "What can I help you with today?"

However, Anko didn't come there to make small talk, and didn't bother to beat around the bush. "Put me on the team!"

"Excuse me?"

"Put me on the team that goes to fight Orochimaru, ANBU-sama!"

"Now why would I do that knowing what kind of history you share with the Snake Sannin?" the green-eyed man asked, while wondering exactly how Anko would react if she knew exactly whom she was begging.

The kunoichi slammed her hands onto the table. "I need to see this through to be free of the chains that _he_ put on me!"

"Not good enough, Mitarashi-san."

"How can you be so sure that Potter, that snake-spawn, will not lead you into a trap?!?!" Anko demanded.

"Not only does Potter-san know the entire layout of Orochimaru's current HQ and has promised us to lead us to the Snake himself, but he has a rare ability the wand-shinobi call parseltongue – which gives him the ability to actually talk to snakes." Harry felt weird whenever he had to talk about himself like this. "Besides, we need skilled people to stay behind as well to guard Konoha and keep things running here."

"You can't mean to tell me that you actually trust that snake-spawn with something like _this_?! If he is willing to betray his own grandfather, what's to say that he won't betray us as well?!"

"Watch your tongue, Mitarashi! You shouldn't talk about fellow shinobi like that in the presence of an ANBU Squad Commander." Harry barked. "But, yes, I do trust Potter-san with this."

Anko was getting more and more desperate. "No matter how much you trust Potter, he can't take care of a hundred poisonous snakes on his own! And I'm the only one around here who can summon snakes and counter Orochimaru's own summons! You _need_ me there! The Hokage has already given me permission, but she said that I needed yours as well. _Please_, ANBU-sama!"

The wolf-masked man watched in shock as the young woman went to her knees, put her hands in front of her so that her fingertips were touching in a triangle-shape, and bowed as deeply as she could. She stayed in the kneeling position until Harry finally gave in with a sigh. "Alright, Mitarashi-san, you can come along. But be warned! If you do not obey orders, if you go after Orochimaru yourself, or if this is an attempt for personal revenge, then I will be forced to take action. This is probably going to be our only chance of defeating Orochimaru, and I do not want you to muck it up just because you had a slightly more personal relationship with Orochimaru. Am I understood, Mitarashi-san?"

"Hai, ANBU-sama." Anko got off the floor, and stood straight-backed and serious, staring straight ahead. "If this mission is jeopardised, it will not be because of me. I swear so upon my chakra!"

"Let it be so, then. Now, get out of my office and start packing, priority's on weapons of all kinds. We leave tomorrow at 1800 hours."

"Hai, ANBU-sama!" with that, Anko disappeared out the door, too eager to even bother to close it behind herself.

'_I hope that I just did the right thing by taking Tsunade's hint and letting Anko join the mission. Bloody hell, Anko's going to skin me alive once she finds out that she grovelled in front of the "snake-spawn" himself in order to join.'_ Harry sighed again and stood up to close the door, before slumping back into his chair. _'This is going to be a very difficult mission, that's for certain. And the danger doesn't come from Orochimaru alone! Hopefully none of our own will screw things up. The only thing we seem to be blessed with is the fact that my dear, old grandfather is an expert at making enemies wherever he goes.'_

-x-x-x-x-

"You alright, Harry?" was the first thing Ron said upon appearing. He and Hermione had been looking for the green-eyed man for the past two days, but most of time they had been waylaid by people who needed help or advice, and – if what Tsunade told him was true – then it hadn't been any better for Harry either.

"I'm fine, Ron, Hermione. Nothing to worry about." Harry replied, leaning on his forearms against the railing. The three of them were standing atop the Hokage Monument, it was late at night, the stars were glittering coldly in the black sky, and come first light the allied forces would set out to destroy Orochimaru.

The red-haired man shook his head, and copied Harry's pose to the left of the ANBU Squad Commander. "You are about to betray your own grandfather, and put an end to the only lifestyle you've known for the past nineteen years. Do not attempt to tell me that you are fine."

"Honestly," Hermione muttered, taking up the same pose on the other side of their mutual friend. "Harry, I know what goes on in that thick skull of yours. You're wondering if, at the end of all this, you're going to end up like Voldemort and committing patricide."

Harry sighed. "Even after all these years you two can still read me like an open book."

Ron grinned. "Actually, it's simply logic. What with knowing Voldemort's past and what he did, knowing your connection with the man, and putting those facts together with you going off to put an end to your own grandfather… well, it didn't take a genius to figure it out."

"The other shinobi are simply too courteous to say anything," the bushy-haired woman pointed out. "That, or they simply don't care all that much, leaving you to deal with it on your own. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and all that rot."

The two males snickered. "They are very different from what we are used to in the wizarding world, ne?"

"Don't tell me! On the last trading caravan that passed though there were several greenhorns of the worst sort. Gods, I cannot help but wonder why the hell such spineless, naïve, weak-minded people were let into the caravan at all."

"Things must be getting really desperate in the wizarding world." The ANBU Squad Commander mused. "I've been trying my best to keep Voldemort occupied with the Shinobi Continent, but I don't think I've done too good a job."

"What about the horcruxes?" Ron asked. "One is Ravenclaw's Crystal Ball – the same one that the Hokage uses to spy on the rest of the village. However, I can't see the Hokage giving up a valuable tool like that just because we need it to destroy an evil megalomaniac. And there is supposed to be another horcrux here at the Shinobi Continent, but I've heard nothing of it in all my years here."

"Did you two realise that this is the first time in fifteen years that the three of us are gathered together like this?"

"Don't try to change the subject, Harry." Hermione growled.

Harry looked at his two oldest friends for a while, feeling honoured to have these two wonderful people stand by him come hell or high water, before he started to speak. "I made a deal with the Hokage when I was accepted into the village. They could keep the crystal ball until the time came for it to be destroyed. They've been doing their best to replicate it, and have actually managed pretty well. There are some glitches that need to be worked out, but if you're willing to help them out, Hermione, it should be solved quickly."

"Of course I'll lend my help!"

"Thank you. And as for the second horcrux, well, er, I've been meaning to tell you people about this, but there's been so much going on lately that I hardly know what's up and what's down."

A lone eyebrow rose on Ron's face. "Spit it out already."

"Well, I kind of ran into Snape and Malfoy jr. approximately six months ago."

"_WHAT_?!?!?!" Hermione shrieked.

"Keep it down, 'Mione! You want every ANBU from here to Snow Country to come running?"

She puffed out her cheeks angrily, but lowered her voice. "What do you mean you ran into Snape and Malfoy? And you didn't tell any of us?"

"What she said, mate."

"I was getting to that." Harry shook his head. He went on to explain his meeting with Snape, Malfoy's sorry position, and then having pointed them in the safest direction. "I couldn't do it. I just couldn't kill them, not upon seeing just how much those two had fallen just because of a badly-worded magical promise."

Hermione looked torn slightly, but her caring nature won out in the end. "Oh dear, that really can't be any good. Set up for the fall by one of their own, and then betrayed because said person worded things badly."

Ron, on the other hand, didn't feel all that remorseful. The life of the shinobi had really changed the tall redhead. "As sad as that is, I'm still waiting to hear about the second horcrux."

"Snape said something before I left. I don't know if it was in thanks for not killing him, for giving him a chance to escape it all, or if it was guilt or whatever, but he mentioned the Snake's Sword. Voldemort was, according to Snape, very eager to get his hands on said sword, and the only reason I could figure for that was that it was a horcrux."

"And the Snake's Sword is…?" Ron hinted, looking a mix between hopeful and worried.

"Kusanagi. The sword that Orochimaru received upon mastering the snake summon and summoning Manda, the king of all snakes." Harry watched his friends' reactions. Ron simply stared for a minute before he started a long mantra of most impressive swear words. Hermione simply sighed and leaned heavily against the railing, looking ready to collapse. All in all, the green-eyed man felt rather amused at this, having had something of a mixed reaction himself when he had finally figured it out.

"I'm happy that we know what the horcrux is and that we don't have to run all over the Shinobi Continent in order to find it," Hermione muttered. "But why, in the name of all that's holy, did it have to belong to Orochimaru of all creeps?"

"Because it was fate! Because lady luck never seems to shine down upon us! Because it would've been too easy to simply walk up to a merchant, find said sword, and buy it for a ridiculously low amount of money! Because-!"

Harry reached out and slapped the back of Ron's head. "Shut up, you drama queen."

"Oh yeah?! You wanna bring out a chess-set and see who the real drama queen around here is, huh, huh, huh?!" Ron poked Harry in the shoulder to emphasise his point.

"Why, in heavens name, do we need to play chess outside when we can do it in my apartment? Besides, we leave at first light, and some of us need to get a good night's sleep." Harry started walking towards the stairs that led down the mountain.

"So you admit that I'm the best, eh?! MUAHAHAHA!!!! I knew it! Make way, people, the Ron is in da house!" Ron raced past a rather freaked-out Harry, all the while laughing insanely.

"Men!" Hermione giggled as she ran to catch up with her two friends. As she passed Harry, she laughingly grabbed his arm and pulled him along.

"Race ya!" Ron shouted from somewhere ahead of them. "Loser has to buy the other two pocky!"

Harry suddenly grinned evilly, slung Hermione over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and then sped off as fast as he could, with only a parting remark to Ron as he passed him. "We'll wait for you at my apartment building!"

Ron squawked. "Oi! Not fair! I didn't get to say 'GO' yet! _OIII_!"

-x-x-x-x-

That's that for now. Please tell me what you think.

This chapter was hell to write. I knew where I want to go, but had no idea how to get there. Bugger. I've also gone back and added a bit to chapters 32 and 33. Not much, a few sentences only, but hopefully it is enough.

Someone asked me whether or not Harry has an animagus form. No, he doesn't, quite frankly, he could never have found the time required to acquire one in the first place. Besides, I don't want to make him into a Gary-Stu – well, any more than I already have at any rate. Otherwise I hope that this chapter laid to rest some of your other questions.

And yes, once and for all, the title of this story is also the name of the _Nightwish_ song. And yes, I did use it knowingly.

Thanks to:

Ore no Naruto, Adnexus, simpleinsanity, Dragonmage182, EvilSpanker, PsychoWing, Monks1, dark672, Honebar, Fattyaddy-99, Kakihana Meytoko, G, The Sleeping Creature, harryetti, Anya, Beautiful-Dead-Girl, Kingdark, Raika Katsuya, Phatom1125, Twin Tails Speed, Wolven Spirits, ToraTigera, AceZ-Shadow, Fate, Lazy-Hime, BasicallyAnIdiot, XinnLajgin, Rasgara, St. Alicon, Morbious20, PersonaJXT, Gogolu, Elementh, Morrolan, kirallie, Anave Lipad, azillia, snarfy, sea-cucumbers-are-evil, Chosha Kurenai, Phamalama, NamelessHeretic, Mischievous Murderer, RuneWitchSakura, Abby K, gaul1, Lord Myst, vanchagreen, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, I-Y-T-Y, Beta the Second, A Rainy Day, yaaaaaaayme, stoictimer, ray243, Dipilidopa, litlittledragon, Coheed 16 the man in the diary, SangoStar, Z-AKA Andrea-, momocolady, Saetan, Blood of Odin, colonelhavoc, brolly501, Tsuki Doriimaa, SilentWhisperWolf, darkangelwp05, VictorialovesKristian, aaattttackkkkk, Inner Cameron, Barranca, Ray, senpai chan, grayi, mooneasterbunny, gaisensei, Karaii, Devil-Speaker, Erisabeisuu, Merrymow, Hmm, pretty good, hope1090, spedclass, and Bobmin356.


	36. Chapter 36

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the obvious; the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note: **Would you look at that! I actually updated! Someone check the temperature in hell, it must be freezing down there! Armageddon is coming!

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Paladin Steelbreaker.

**Chapter Thirty-Six**

When the time came Harry and Shisui left the village well before anyone else, never stopping for breaks until well into the night. The organising of the attack had taken more time than previously thought, and Orochimaru's two-week deadline would soon be up. The young Uchiha had some trouble keeping up with the ANBU Squad Commander, which made Harry slow down, and thusly it took them even longer to get to Orochimaru's lair.

Now, staring at the doors that led to the underground hideout, both Harry and Shisui took a moment to get their breath back and to psyche themselves up for the following encounter.

"Harry-san?" Shisui panted, leaning against a tree.

"Hmm?" Harry looked over at the younger male.

"How far behind us are..." the Uchiha trailed off hesitantly.

The wolf-masked man sighed. He understood why Shisui was asking the question despite knowing the answer. The real question that the younger man was asking was _"Just how long will I have to deal with Orochimaru before our allies arrive?"_

"About two hours behind us." He replied simply and truthfully.

"Oh." Shisui sat down at the foot of the tree and leaned back, looking up at the sky between the branches.

Harry shook his head at Shisui, knowing that this was going to be difficult for the younger man, and instead pulled out his communication medallion and sent a message to Kimimaro and Tonks, telling them to stand ready. Those two already knew the plan, and knew what they were supposed to do. All they needed to do for now, though, was to wait for the opportune moment and Harry's go-ahead. Then the green-eyed man ate a few soldier pills and some chocolate, and took a page out of Shisui's book, taking a moment to relax against one of the trees.

'_This really is it.' _The green-eyed man mused silently. _'After all these years Orochimaru will finally fall and I will finally be free to deal with Voldemort. It boggles the mind, really. What am I to do after all this?'_ he shook his head in slight amusement. He had no idea of what to do after everything was said and done. He had no honest trade to fall back on, and he knew that he didn't want to continue being an ANBU Squad Commander forever. _'Assuming I survive everything, that is.'_

"I will not survive this ordeal," Shisui suddenly spoke up with frightening certainty.

"What makes you think that?"

The Uchiha's eyes were tired and worn when they met Harry's own green ones. "Ever since I got this Seal, I've felt it tearing at me, tempting me, _seducing_ me. I can hardly resist the call anymore. I am not strong like you or Itachi-san, and I won't be able to refuse the call much longer."

"And what if we win?" Harry asked. "I can still put the counter-Seal on you, you know. There is no timeframe for it."

Shisui shook his head. "I know we will win, and I know that you will do everything in your power to help me, but you haven't sealed off your own Curse Seal. You had all of this planned out the second you heard about the attack on Konoha during the Chunnin Exams – no, even before that, when you got your own Seal and didn't use the counter-Seal – and when you visited me in the hospital on that day you were very clear and brutally honest about my role in it all. But you still gave me the choice of whether I wanted to do it or whether I wanted to accept the counter-Seal on that day, and I thank you for it."

Harry simply listened as the younger man talked, knowing that Shisui needed to get this off his chest if he was to be completely focused on the upcoming encounter.

"Once I agreed to your plan, you told me that Orochimaru would be able to sense the counter-Seal if we ever met face-to-face – which was unavoidable – and you warned me about the Seal and its seducing darkness. You helped me through the times when the Seal was at its strongest. In fact, throughout my entire life you have been there and helped me – and so many others! I am simply grateful that I can do something in return."

"You have good friends and family, and you have found love and acceptance, Shisui," he said, referring to a certain young girl that worked for the Uchiwa. "And yet you insist that you are to die today?"

"I could never live with myself after allowing Orochimaru to control me – which I must do in order to help you and the allied forces in the upcoming battle." Shisui smiled sadly. "No, Harry-san, by my own hands, or by an enemy's, I will not live past the next 24 hours."

The green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander stared for a minute at the young shinobi, and then he simply nodded and turned towards the doors that led into Orochimaru's headquarters. "Come, it is time to begin."

Shisui visibly steeled himself, calling up on all the Uchiha arrogance he could muster, and followed the wolf-masked man into the Snake's lair, through the dark and winding corridors, using a hand on the wall to guide himself and to keep from crashing into one of them. He could hardly see anything in the darkness, and only the occasional, ghostly flash of Harry's bone-white ANBU mask and the white armour allowed him to see if he was going in the correct direction. Shisui nearly ran into the ANBU Squad Commander when the latter suddenly stopped outside a pair of doors. Though he couldn't see it, the younger man could feel Harry's questioning gaze upon him, and he nodded resolutely. There was no turning back now, no 'what if's', no cries for mercy. He couldn't think of what he was supposed to do, he just needed to do it well enough to give their allies time to get there.

A quick pat on the shoulder was all the comfort that Harry offered before he opened the doors and led the way inside into Orochimaru's throne room.

"We meet again, Uchiha Shisui." Orochimaru chuckled darkly from the shadows of his throne. The Snake Summoner watched in glee as the young Uchiha sketched an arrogant, quick bow, staring at him coldly. Oh, the young man wasn't happy about being here, and he probably hated Orochimaru with all his being, but his thirst for power had led him here and Orochimaru finally had a future Body that held the much-coveted Sharingan.

"Orochimaru... –_san_." Shisui replied, adding the suffix as an afterthought, and pronouncing it with a subtle sneer.

'_Fugaku will be glad to know that all the years he spent sneering and being arrogant have come in handy.'_ Harry mused absentmindedly, standing off to the side and watching as Orochimaru approached Shisui and talked with the young Uchiha a bit. _'I hope Shisui can stall Orochimaru as much as possible. By my estimate we spent somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes outside, and it took us approximately another 15 minutes to get to the throne room. That means that Tsunade, Hermione, Ron and the rest are approximately an hour behind us. Unfortunately, a lot can happen in an hour with Orochimaru in the equation.'_

After another couple of minutes of quizzing the young Uchiha, Orochimaru turned his attention to his green-eyed grandson, and started approaching the young man. "As for you, my dear grandson," the Snake Summoner began. "You have done a good job in all the years I have known you, a very good job indeed."

The second Harry heard the words 'good job' coming out of Orochimaru's mouth he tensed and narrowed his eyes behind his mask. Never before had Orochimaru said those words to him, or to anyone else, and despite Harry's ever-present want to hear such things from his grandfather, he wasn't stupid enough to trust Orochimaru as far as he could throw him.

"Only the best for you, Orochimaru-sama." He replied carefully, never taking his eyes off the approaching figure.

Orochimaru sneered slightly, eyes narrow and angry. "And especially if what is the best for me also serves you."

Harry didn't reply. There was, quite frankly, little he could say to the accusation – especially since it was true. Instead, he simply stood and awaited Orochimaru's next move, letting the infamous shinobi rant himself out first.

"I taught you well, grandson of mine, far too well. You have hidden your tracks well, and if it hadn't been for Kabuto I never would have even known about the deal you made with the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha."

'_I knew I should've killed Kabuto when I had the chance, Orochimaru's orders or not.' _Harry complained to himself, tense as a bow-string and ready to jump into action at any moment. The game he had been playing for the past 19 years was finally over, and all because of a slip of paper that both Harry and the Yondaime had signed upon agreeing to the terms and conditions of their deal. A slip of paper and a silver-haired medic-nin too nosy for his own good. _'What annoys me the most is that Kabuto must've had inside help to get to the document that contained said slip of paper, which, in turn, throws the suspicion straight at Danzo, his protégé Sai and the remaining members of the disbanded Root.' _

"Tell me, dear grandson, just how long have you been on _their_ side?" Orochimaru sneered angrily. "Was it before the Yondaime Hokage offered you the deal of becoming a Konoha citizen?"

'_I really need to stall as much as I can.'_ Harry thought to himself and refused to answer. If he could just keep Orochimaru talking for another while, he would give Ron, Tsunade and the rest enough time to reach them without things getting too far out of control.

"How long have you been a traitor to your own grandfather?" the Snake demanded angrily, seeming genuinely upset about it. Though if he was upset about Harry betraying him, or being fooled for the past 19 years, was another matter entirely.

"I was never on your side, grandfather." This time Harry sneered right back, getting ready for Orochimaru's attack. Despite not having the use of his hands, Orochimaru was a damn dangerous opponent – especially with that freaky tongue of his.

Though looking ready to blow his top, Orochimaru didn't attack. Instead he looked from Shisui – who had wisely been keeping out of the argument despite his wish to help – and Harry a few times, and chuckled darkly, yellowish eyes glittering maliciously. "Despite my displeasure with this revelation, I must admit that it isn't as shocking as one might think. You always were far too free-spirited and unpredictable to be a good tool, grandson of mine. And I distinctly remember telling you that when things or people get too unpredictable, that safety measures must be employed. _**Imperio**_!"

The green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander barely had the time to widen his in shock at what he saw and hear Shisui's shocked shout, before he was greeted by merciful, gentle darkness.

-x-x-x-x-

It pissed him off slightly that Gaara, who was just as old as him, was allowed to come along and fight Orochimaru, while Naruto himself was forced to stay behind in order to defend Konoha against a _possible_ attack. But, then again, Gaara was the Kazekage now while Naruto remained a newly-promoted chunnin, so he guessed that there wasn't much to be annoyed or jealous about after all.

The blond jinchuuriki was currently standing atop the Hokage monument, watching the clear blue sky, and trying not to think about the danger that his adopted big brother and most of the members of the Angsters Anonymous were facing right now. He was also waiting for the Konoha gennin and Academy students to show up. Naruto and Sasuke had been called to the Hokage's office right before Tsunade, Ron, Hermione and the rest had left, and had been given the task of making sure that nothing happened to Konoha while the various -kage's were away.

"Orochimaru might be aware that something's up, and might have sent shinobi to attack the village as soon as we are gone." The amply-bosomed Hokage had said in a serious tone. "Or the Akatsuki may take this opportunity to attack. Either way lots can happen, and I want to make sure that we'll be even remotely prepared just in case. Therefore I'm putting you two in charge of the gennin and the Academy Students. You will answer to Umino Iruka, who in turns answers to Ebisu. Ebisu answers to the ANBU operative known as Yamato, and Yamato answers to the two ANBU Squad Commanders I'm leaving behind in this village. Now you are aware of the chain of command while I'm gone, and know who to contact if Iruka isn't available."

Sasuke and Naruto had stood there for a few seconds, almost overwhelmed by the seriousness of the situation, but then had pulled themselves together. They were chunnin now; there was no room for gennin-level mistakes or freezing up in the middle of something.

"And what do you want us to do?" Sasuke had asked for the both of them.

Yamato stepped forwards. "You should gather the Academy students and the rest of the gennin, and devise the best way of getting the civilians to the shelters just in case something does happen. That is all for now, further orders will come later."

"Hai!" both Naruto and Sasuke had answered, and had then quickly left the office in order to send a message to every gennin and Academy student to meet them atop the Hokage monument as soon as possible.

Naruto was drawn out of his thoughts by Sasuke coming up beside him, the raven-haired Uchiha adopting the same pose as the blond and sighed. "What's gotten you so out of character? You're usually loud enough to hear from here and all the way to Snow Country, dobe?"

"Don't call me that, teme!" Naruto growled back, but then sighed as well and slumped as if all the fight was out of him. "Dunno what's worse. Waiting for an attack that might or might not come, or not knowing what's happening with the attack on Orochimaru."

"Aa." Sasuke replied, and then the two of them lapsed into silence, watching as the gennin and Academy Students showed up one by one, or in two's or three's, until all of them were gathered. The young Uchiha stretched and headed towards the group. "There's no time to be thinking like that now, dobe, so put yourself together and let's get started."

"Teme!" Naruto pouted and grumbled, sticking out his tongue at Sasuke's back. _'Huh, wonder what Harry-nii-san would've said in this situation if I asked for his help. Ah, I know: "Life is sink or swim, brat, so you'd better start swimming." and then he'd probably throw me head-first into the fray.'_

Snickering slightly at the very accurate description of his adopted older brother, Naruto shook his head and headed over to Sasuke. It really was time to get things rolling.

"Alright you brats!" the blond shouted in order to get everyone's attention. "The Hokage, the Mizukage and the Kazekage are out of town on business, and we have gotten the important task of making and testing escape routes for the civilians in case of an attack. This is a serious situation, people, and either we sink or we swim!"

Sasuke stood beside Naruto, his eyes glittering in suppressed amusement, and was wondering if the blond realised just how much like a certain green-eyed, wolf-masked ANBU Squad Commander he sounded like right then.

-x-x-x-x-

Manji, Itachi and Kakashi were in the lead of the group, using their unique abilities to correctly track Harry and Shisui who were approximately two hours ahead of them. Itachi used his sharingan occasionally to spot and disable the occasional trap in their way – Harry had put them up just in case Orochimaru's spies followed the large group, and to make it look like the ANBU Squad Commander really was trying to flee the Konoha group. And Kakashi had summoned Pakkun, the small pug using his nose to follow the trail as well as warn them in case there were any sudden incoming enemies, leaving Manji to solely focus on using his byakugan to track the faint residue of Harry's and Shisui's chakra that the two aforementioned people had deliberately left as a subtle trail.

Following the three trackers, came the rest of the group with Jiraiya, Tsunade, Ron, Hermione and Gaara and the other shinobi and wizards that had come along. The few Aburame, Inuzuka and Hyuuga that had accompanied them were spread out to the sides of the advancing group, making sure that no one attacked their flanks.

Pakkun's surprised yelp and veer off course when a vicious-looking kunai embedded itself between his paws, gave ample warning to the shinobi and the wizards, making them scatter throughout the trees with weapons and wands drawn.

Out of the foliage of the trees came a large group of rogue wizards and nuke-nin, all of them dressed in the uniforms of Otogakure and bearing the note-marked hitai-ate as well.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" one of the rogue wizards sneered. "The Hokage, the Mizukage, and the Kazekage all in one place."

One of the nuke-nin stepped forwards and smirked as well. "And the apparent leaders of the wand-shinobi secret Phoenix-organisation. Our lucky day."

"Bugger." Ron muttered. "We don't have time for this."

"I'm more worried about what this development really means." Itachi muttered. "Were these people sent here to cover Harry's and Shisui's tracks and retreat, or wee they sent here because Orochimaru found out about Harry double-crossing him?"

"And why are there wizards in the group?" Hermione asked, her wand at the ready.

"Either way, Harry seems to be in serious danger right now. We need to hurry." Tsunade growled.

Shacklebolt made his way over to them. "Leave the wizards and some shinobi with me. We'll deal with these people while you hurry on ahead, then we'll catch up with you."

"I'll stay as well." Morino Ibiki volunteered.

"It's the best plan right now." Kakashi pointed out, his eyes never leaving the surprisingly patient and non-attacking enemy.

The rogue wizard spoke up again. "You people have been thorns in our sides ever since the trade with the Shinobi Continent was established 19 years ago!"

"And the little green-eyed grandson of Orochimaru's just as big a thorn in our side!" the nuke-nin snarled angrily. "But today you're all going to die! Attack!"

There was really nothing else they could do, and just when the enemy had gotten fed up with their silence and attacked, the Konoha group launched a counter attack, and in the chaos and fray that followed a small group of them was able to sneak off and continue to follow Harry's and Shisui's subtle tracks.

"I hope Shacklebolt and the rest will be alright," Hermione said worriedly, casting a quick glance behind her.

"Worry about what's in front of you instead." Jiraiya growled as he tackled the bushy-haired woman out of the way of a stray kunai.

Upon seeing exactly where the old man's hands had, ahem, _accidentally_ ended up, Hermione shrieked and punched him with all her might. "Pervert!"

Despite being followed by a group of nuke-nin, the gang from Konoha easily defeated them and shook them off without losing too much time or too many men, and continued to follow the faint trail at top speed. They had used a couple of portkeys to travel half the way so that they weren't too tired for the upcoming fight with Orochimaru. Therefore it didn't take them too long to reach the entrance to the Snake Summoner's underground lair. From this point on they knew they had to be very careful since they could – despite having Shisui's chakra trail to follow – meet up with any number of hidden traps and shinobi.

"Well, this is it, people," Ron muttered as he stared at the two doors that led into the underground maze that Orochimaru claimed as his headquarters. "Let's hope you all survive this so that we can celebrate at the end of the day."

Hermione sent him a dull look. "And what makes you so sure that you will come out alive?"

"My mum." The red-head replied seriously, shuddering slightly at the thought. "If she doesn't get to see her upcoming grandchild, she will raise me from the dead, castrate me, and then kill me herself."

"Not to mention what Rukia-sama would do to him." The shark-like Kisame commented in a whisper to Itachi, making the weasel-masked ANBU and those close enough to hear, snicker or snort in short-lived amusement.

Sending one last look around, everyone in the group silently noting that the others were ready, and then Tsunade threw open the doors – absentmindedly flinging them away, hearing them land somewhere close by – and then they collectively entered the dark underground corridors and tunnels. Manji was, once again, leading them as he used the byakugan to pick up the faint trace of the chakra Shisui had left behind on the wall.

The corridors were scarily silent. Dark, damp and treacherous they seemed to stretch for miles and miles, like a never-ending labyrinth they had been caught in. Occasionally there were traps that sprung out of the darkness, and the allied group had lost more than one person by the time they reckoned they had reached the half-way mark. At this point they took a small breather, standing close together and making sure that no one wandered off or touched anything that wasn't cleared by one of the Hyuuga's in the group first.

"The path forks into three ahead of us." Manji told the rest of them, his voice barely over a whisper. "It heads left, straight ahead and right. Shisui-kun's chakra leads off into all three."

"It could be a genjutsu." Itachi muttered. "But I can't see anything in this darkness."

"Do we dare risk some light?" Ron asked.

"The question is: do we dare test our luck and randomly pick one of the corridors?" Hermione voiced.

Jiraiya sighed. "I don't see any other option but to briefly turn on the light and give Itachi and Kakashi a few seconds to study the way ahead with their sharingan."

Once again they seemed to have no other option but to go through with Jiraiya's plan. Hermione and Ron used their wands to light up a very weak _lumos_, making it slightly brighter upon Kakashi's and Itachi's request. The sharingan may be a magnificent doujutsu, but even it had certain limitations. However, once the light was bright enough, the two sharingan-users hardly needed more than half-a-second to determine what was going on, and then finally Ron and Hermione put away their wands, covering the group in darkness once again.

"There is no genjutsu, Manji-sempai." Itachi said. "Harry-sensei and Shisui passed through each and every one of them at one point, but I cannot figure out in which they entered first, second and third. It is the third corridor that will lead us to Orochimaru's throne room I suspect."

Ron snorted and muttered mutinously, "Harry really doesn't like making it easy for us, huh? So, which one do we pick?"

Hermione shook her head and slapped the redhead's shoulder. "Are you a wizard or are you a wizard? Honestly! Give me some light."

The shinobi watched with great interest as the bushy-haired woman performed a point-me spell, some of them very eager to learn said spell. Imagine just how easy certain missions could be if all one had to do was order a stick to point you in the correct direction! Either way, the wand spun wildly and it took it almost a full minute to point out the correct path.

"It's pointing to the path in the middle." Manji stated the obvious, and Ron let the light of his _lumos_ die out again.

Tsunade sighed. "Well, nothing to it but to do it. So let's get going."

Once again led by Manji the group was forced to slowly enter the unknown and dangerous corridor, having to go single-file since the space was so small. Less than half of their already small number had entered the corridor when Manji shouted a warning but he was a second too late, and a secret opening in the ceiling of the corridor opened, allowing countless rocks of various sizes to fall down and block the entrance of the corridor, and also burying and completely crushing one of the wizards. On one side of the cave-in were Tsunade, Ron, Hermione, Itachi, Kakashi, Kisame, Jiraiya and Manji, and on the other side of the rock-pile stood Gaara, Anko and the rest.

Ron sighed. "Well, now I understand why Harry walked around in all three of the corridors. There has to be some sort of way to diffusethe trap in one or both of them, which hinders the rocks from falling every time someone wants to have an audience with the Snake Sannin."

With a hiss of sand rubbing against stone, Gaara's sand appeared through the smallest of cracks, and formed itself into words. The young Kazekage had decided to try out the other two corridors in an attempt to finding another way through, while some of the wizards stayed behind and carefully started to clear away the stones of the cave-in. Hermione took off her communication medallion and dangled it into the sand until the sand grabbed it, crushed it and brought it through the cracks to the other side where one of the wizards quickly fixed it again with a simple _repario_. Now they could easily communicate with both the wizards that were on the other side, and also with the red-haired Kazekage – the only one left behind who knew the full plan.

"There." The bushy-haired woman sighed. "Shall we press on?"

"Nothing else we can do." Jiraiya muttered.

"This is going downhill fast." Manji was getting more and more worried about this entire situation. _'This bodes ill for us all. I just hope that Harry is alright. I lost one best friend to the Kyuubi no Kitsune, I do not wish to lose my second best friend to an immortality-seeking snake.'_

-x-x-x-x-

There, please tell me what you think.

As a friend of mine here at pointed out _'Over the Hills and Far Away'_ really was over the hills and far away for a while there. I apologise for the extremely long wait, but hopefully you guys will not be too disappointed with this chapter. Personally I'm a bit undecided whether or not I like this chapter, but with the Writer's Block and Plot Bunny Massacre state I'm currently in, I'm happy that I got out even this. Sorry to put you through the torture of reading this chapter... though I still wouldn't mind positive reviews...

I removed the oath-part with Anko in the last chapter. You reviewers were right, it didn't fit in with the rest of it all. Sometimes I can't spot such things until someone points it out. Thank you all!

As for the one review who wasn't happy with my story. Uhm, WTF? What the devil are you talking about? Firstly, I have no idea how you could mistake this story for having something to do with (something I assume is) another fandom, when the story itself is placed in the 'Harry Potter' section, and it says quite clearly that it's a crossover with 'Naruto'. Secondly, what the devil is 'Sharpe', and why would a simple title make you think it had something to do with it? Totally confused over here……..

Thanks to:

wizardmon92, Von, Barranca, lol, azillia, Kingdark, spedclass, dark672, RobotPirateNinja, Spirit Hellfire, Anave Lipad, sadfru, grayi, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, Morbious20, Adnexus, G, PsychoWing, Inner Cameron, MysticSuperSaiyanGohan, BasicallyAnIdiot, Honebar, Koneko-ichigO, Mischievous Murderer, hope1090, NamelessHeretic, Wolven Spirits, Twin Tails Speed, SilentWhisperWolf, Ronwyn The Queen of Darkness, Bah the Evilness, Morrolan, Beta the Second, Saetan, Dream's Abyss, Gogolu, ZWingDragon, Sarah R Potter, Angranse, Shika, Chosha Kurenai, potterinu, momocolady, kirallie, Dragonmage182, Z-AKA Andrea-, Ore no Naruto, litlittledragon, APS, Memories-of-the-Shadows, Thestral's Wish, crissinmon, firedrizzt, moss and stone, ardeo, Momma Lici, nssk2202, yumeniai, DarkThorned Rose, Silent-Serpent, Ranma Youko, blooddrinker, Altrum Decor, Merrymow, Meatzman2, hentai18ancilla, Garnet Avi, HelKat, Janneia, EruLawliet, Illusionary Angel, LordThorongil19, Berkum, Lady Gaia, Kin Pandun, Steven Kodaly, Erisabeisuu, Estheriana, Anon, starz4evr, madness comes to all, Aerith G., Kaiju-Lord, DOKIDOKIpanic, Blackdex, alicat54, moonlover825, Needless Noodles, Ninjawolf9, me, ScreenSurfer, and bookrascal.


	37. Chapter 37

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** I apologize for the insanely long wait. Yeah. That's all.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Beta the Second.

**Chapter Thirty-Seven**

_Harry stared down on the ever-going plains that stretched far into the horizon, and even further, his breath taken away by the sheer beauty of the scenery, both the __tranquillity and the loneliness that he felt by gazing as far as the eye could see and never reaching an end. The grass was tall and waved and shone healthily in the wind, and the river that made its way from the wild waterfall to Harry's immediate left looked like a long silver snake that slithered its way through this sea of green. _

_He stood on the very edge of the unclaimed lands that lay beyond Earth Country. Behind him stood the tall, treacherous mountains, and beyond those again was the Earth Country and civilization. Ahead was a wild, largely unexplored and unnamed country that belonged to demons and a few scattered tribes of nomads. _

"_Perfect," Orochimaru almost purred as he stepped up beside Harry, and gazed out across the plains. "This place is perfect for a hideout. Nobody would search for us here, not even Hunter-nin from Iwagakure."_

"_Perhaps," the green-eyed young man said, turning to his grandfather. "But I see no place to hide here, it is far too open and we'll be seen too easily unless we go underground. And this is demon-country. It is far too dangerous for only two shinobi to live here."_

"_That is exactly why no on__e would expect us to be here__,__" __t__he pale man replied. "Besides, tribes of nomads live hand-in-hand with the demons. I know for a fact that if we were to follow this river long enough we would reach one of the nomad settlements." He smirked and pointed at the river._

_Harry frowned. "I do not think that they would welcome us with open arms, I know I would never trust a stranger that suddenly appeared one day. How are we supposed to get these people to trust us enough to allow us to stay?"_

_Orochimaru didn't seem worried at all. "These people are very peace-loving despite their living hand-in-hand with demons."_

'I suppose you found out all this by accidentally coming across a nomad,' _the green-eyed male thought to himself, sending a quick look at the other man from the corner of his eye. _'Poor bastard, whoever he was.'

"_These people have come up with many of the potions and balms that the Iwa-nin use and you know how effective those are," Orochimaru continued talking. "They trade with the Iwa-nin every six months or so."_

'So that's where you came across the nomads, and how you got all this information.' _He sighed._

"_If someone needed help, I doubt these people would refuse." The Snake Sannin finished, his eyes flashing at the opportunities this presented him._

"_So your plan is that one of us has to be hurt, and hurt badly enough to be forced to stay in one of these settlements long enough to gain the trust and friendship of the people," Harry concluded, with a raised eyebrow._

"_Exactly."_

_The younger of the two shook his head. "It's far too dangerous, and far too many what-if's are involved. The hurt one could really die, the people could refuse to help, a demon might attack, __and a hundred other things could go wrong. I am against this, it simply does not seem to be worth it."_

"_Unfortunately for you, grandson of mine, you're not the one who ca__lls the shots here, as they say," Orochimaru sneered, his face and voice gaining a certain amount of ruthlessness, "nothing ventured, nothing gained. This place is perfect for a hideout, and I will not let this chance pass me by simply because you are a coward."_

"_Am I no coward," Harry replied, his Gryffindor side balking at the very thought. "I am simply cautious."_

_The wind blew harshly over the never-ending grasslands, bending the tall grass and howling as it passed through the cracks and passages in the mountains. The scenery really was beautiful in its loneliness and vastness, but Harry didn't pay it much mind. He was more focused on Orochimaru, certain that the old snake would try something. There was no way that Orochimaru would allow himself to be hurt for such a cause as this, and there was no way that the snake summoner would bring in a third party to take on said role. That meant that it all would fall onto Harry's shoulders, and the mission to establish such a hideout would be his._

"_I want a firm foothold in these lands, Harry-kun. I want the friendship of these people, not their fear. There is less chance of them betraying me that way. You can take all the time that you need for this mission, but I shall contact you when I need you so be prepared to leave at a moment's notice."_

"… _hai…" __the green-eyed male was tense as a bowstring. _

"_And one more thing," the old snake said at the same time as the sound of steel slashing through the air._

_Harry barely managed to twist enough out of the way to hinder the sword from spilling his innards all over the mountainside. However, he received a deep and long slash going from his hip down to his knee__. Barely able to keep standing, Harry glared at his grandfather who simply stood there with Kusanagi__drawn and coated with the younger man's blood._

"_Perfect wound, grandson of mine." Orochimaru's arm shot out and he easily pushed the unsteady Harry off the cliff and into the raging river below. "Do not disappoint me, Harry-kun."_

_Harry had been in shock when Orochimaru pushed him off the cliff, and therefore he hadn't reacted to anything. He had known that the Snake Sannin was a right old bastard, but he hadn't thought that the older man would go so far as to practically kill him just for a stupid mission. Sure, Orochimaru had thrown him into several dangerous situations before, but never had he done something like this._

'Family my arse, Orochimaru. You're no better than Voldemort!' _Was the last, hateful thought that passed through Harry's mind has his body hit the cold raging waters._

-x-x-x-x-

"Do not disappoint me" and "failure is not an option" were two of Orochimaru most favourite sayings, and Harry had heard them so often that he had developed a burning hate for the two phrases. If Orochimaru had been more concerned with actually making Harry feel like family rather than a tool to be used and discarded when no longer useful, then the green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander might have been a bit more hesitant about going through with his treachery. Or, at least, looked for a different way to accomplish what he needed to reach his goals. However, the Snake Sannin hadn't been concerned with family, but with power, and thus did he plant his own seed of destruction.

As Harry slowly came out of the all-encompassing darkness, the first sense that returned being his hearing. He could hear shouts and explosions and jutsu being performed, kunai and shuriken were thrown and cut through the air, the metallic twang of wires tightening and snapping, and the general noises of a high-powered battle between some of the best shinobi alive. The ground shook slightly, and small rocks fell from the ceiling, but all the combatants were conscious of the fact that they were underground and to go all out with their power and strength could bring the underground lair down around their heads, so they were extremely careful.

Or, rather, as careful as a battle of life and death could be.

The next of his senses that returned was his sense of touch. Harry soon found out that he was neither bound nor overly hurt – apart from a few scrapes and a killer headache. He could only surmise that Orochimaru wanted to use him as his next Body, and that the Sannin was preparing to perform the technique that would transfer his soul into Harry's body.

'_Let him try it.'_ The green-eyed shinobi snarled mentally, his fingers twitching slightly at the thought. The sounds of vicious and bloody battle went on as Harry slowly regained control of his body, and lastly his eyes. Green eyes opened behind a grinning wolf-mask, and through the slits observed what was happening.

Kakashi, Hermione, Ron and Manji were all desperately fighting against fully-fledged Cursed Seal users that Harry had never seen before, and that Orochimaru must've bit, infected and, consequently, trained without telling his grandson about. All of them were flinging techniques and various weapons left, right and centre, and everyone bore wounds from the fight, but it was painfully obvious that these Seal-users were much better and far more advanced than the Sound Five had been, and the green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander realised that the Snake Summoner had enhanced their abilities to a far greater degree than he had ever done with Harry.

'_In fact, I think I was merely a guinea pig, the first one who survived and who pointed him __towards the correct formula._' Harry sneered behind his mask. Orochimaru's willingness to use and discard anyone and everything in his path never ceased to infuriate him.

Itachi stood back to back with Kisame, the two of them working surprisingly well to fight off another three Seal-users, one of those being Shisui. The bitten Uchiha's eyes were empty and glassy and he displayed all the signs of being under the Imperius Curse. This meant that Harry's headache wasn't a result of a poorly cast Imperius, but rather someone knocking him out with something.

"Shisui! Pull yourself together!" Itachi shouted as he deflected yet another of his fellow Uchiha's attacks. The young Clan Head was clearly aiming to hurt and not to kill, but Shisui wasn't under such restrictions and Itachi was already suffering from numerous wounds and scratches.

"The guy's gone, dammit!" Kisame barked to Itachi as he used his enormous sword like a bat and sent two Seal-users flying across the room. Not that it helped much seeing as the Seal-users simply bounced off the wall and right back into the fray.

"He's still there!" Itachi snarled right back, delivering a powerful kick to Shisui's sternum. But his voice was lacking any real conviction; it was more like Itachi was trying to convince himself as well as anyone else. "Shisui!"

The blue-skinned, shark-like jounnin sneered and took all of his anger out on the attacking Seal-users.

'_I'm so sorry for everything,'_ Harry could feel a tear escape the corner of his eye, and his limbs twitched again. Soon. Soon he could move once more and put an end to this madness. He growled lowly as his eyes searched the room for Orochimaru.

The Snake Sannin himself stood not too far from the green-eyed ANBU, a pair of snakes and another pair of Seal-users defending him from the constant attacks of Tsunade and Jiraiya. The pale-skinned man was laughing at the almost futile attempts that his former team-mates made to get to him, his back being turned to Harry.

"Do you really think you can win this?" Orochimaru questioned. "Even with the aid provided by my oh-so-traitorous grandson?"

"He is a much better man than you ever were," Tsunade snarled. She was completely pissed, but unfortunately she couldn't use her overwhelming strength unless she wanted to bring down the underground lair around their ears. Nor did she want to summon anything in such an enclosed space. It was bad enough with Orochimaru's summoned snakes attacking and pounding into the walls and the ceiling.

Kakashi shouted in warning as Hermione's defence was finally bested and one of the Seal-users sent the bushy-haired woman flying, following the woman and delivering more hits and kicks. Just before the Seal-user could deliver a devastating punch to the woman's throat which would've undoubtedly killed her, Kakashi appeared and sent the Seal-user backwards with a powerful kick, then grabbed Hermione and easily landed with her.

"Thanks!" Hermione panted and then was up again, throwing spells and curses at any opponent that entered her field of vision. She had a clear advantage in fighting in such close quarters seeing as even if her spells didn't hit, they hardly did any damage to the structural integrity of the place.

Manji was busy sealing the chakra-points of another Seal-user, forcefully converting the man back into a normal human being so that he was easier to kill. **"Jyuuken: Hakke Rokujyuu Yonshou!"** _(Gentle Fist: Sixty-Four Points of Divinity!)_

Ron almost casually beheaded the man that the Hyuuga had just defeated, and in the same swing the redhead easily sliced through the stomach of another enemy, his katana glittering red in the weak light of the room. "Just die, god damn it!" he practically roared as the Seal-user simply continued attacking, not seeming to notice the deep wound.

Kisame screamed as a lightning-based jutsu from Shisui hit him. If he hadn't moved out of the way he would've been decapitated by now, but as it was he nearly lost the use of his arm, his fingers and hand twitching almost uncontrollably as the electricity ran through it. The other two Seal-users – thoroughly battered but not beaten – took this chance to attack the shark-like man again, and Kisame barely managed to keep them from tearing him limb from limb.

'_My legs are almost usable again,'_ Harry thought to himself, finally feeling the heaviness and boneless feeling leaving him. _'Orochimaru must've given me some sort of drug to keep me out for so long, and for my body to be so relaxed and boneless. Probably thinks that I'll be out until he's ready to perform his little body-switch. Boy, won't he be surprised.'_

Perhaps it had been some sort of instinct or the knowledge that he'd one day have to fight Orochimaru, hidden deep within the darkest and most secret parts of his soul, but Harry had been hiding his true abilities from the very beginning. From the very moment he'd first met the Snake Summoner, the green-eyed man had been misleading and downplaying his skills – firstly his skills as a wizard, and then (as he gained them) his skills as a shinobi. The only time he'd showed Orochimiaru what he could truly do was the fight with the Death Eaters in the park in Little Whinging all those years ago, and the little one-on-one battle he'd had with Kabuto not too long ago.

'_And no matter how good a shinobi__,__ not even Orochimaru can deduce exactly how good I am from that. Hopefully,' _he thought. He didn't want to get too cocky around his grandfather, the man was far too slippery and deceitful for something like that, but Harry felt fairly certain that he could give the old man a run for his money. _'And his snakes won't be too helpful either. All I have to do is speak Parseltongue to them, and they'll back off.'_

Itachi groaned as he crashed harshly with the walls of the cavern, creating an indentation. His ANBU-mask had long since cracked and was gone, and he had numerous bruises and cuts all over. He looked at Shisui, his cousin and best friend, and finally admitted to himself that aiming to only hurt wouldn't help him in this fight. He needed to attack with the intent to kill Shisui, and that thought nearly choked him. He knew that he was better than Shisui, and if he went at the other with the intent to kill Shisui would most likely die before they'd have the chance to defeat Orochimaru.

In other words, there was little chance for Shisui to be saved.

'_Sacrifice one to save hundreds __of others__,__'_ Itachi thought, and hated himself for what he was about to do. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, the Sharingan was blazing, almost glowing demonically in the dim light from the torches. Then he jumped back into the fray in time to save Kisame from being decapitated. _'I'm so sorry, Shisui.'_

Jiraiya feinted to the left, avoided one Seal-user, and was almost by Orochimaru when he was hit by the whipping tail of one of the snakes and sent flying backwards until he flipped in mid-air and landed back on his feet. The old man was bruised and bloodied like everyone else, and he glared at his former team-mate. "Stop hiding!" he growled.

"But I am standing right here, Jiraiya," Orochimaru smirked, "so come and get me."

The busty, blond Godaime Hokage of Konoha growled angrily as she punched a Seal-user with all her might, taking out her frustrations. They hadn't been able to touch Orochimaru since the start of the battle, and she just knew that her childhood team-mate was gloating over this. But then she spotted something behind the pale man which made her relieved.

The body of Harry had, so far, simply been lying there. When the group had finally entered the great cavern they'd been very worried upon seeing the wolf-masked ANBU lying so still and unmoving behind Orochimaru, but they'd just had enough time to discern that he was still breathing before they'd been attacked from all sides by Seal-users and had to fight for their lives. But now Tsunade could see her ANBU Squad Commander twitch and slowly and somewhat stiffly get to his feet, and she knew that Jiraiya had seen it as well.

Their inattention to what was directly ahead of them cost them, and both suddenly found themselves jumping out of the way of four foot long fangs with poison practically dripping off them as Orochimaru's two great snakes attacked them.

'_Damn it!'_ Tsunade cursed silently and focused on taking out the snake that was attacking her. Harry could take care of Orochimaru from here on.

-x-x-x-x-

Minerva McGonagall stared out of the window of her office at Hogwarts, and was deep in thought. The dangerous maze stretched as far as she could see, and occasionally she could see a dragon flying across the sky and hear them roar. Another school year had begun, and it had begun with very happy news. Nymphadora Tonks had returned to them a few weeks ago, and none had been happier than Remus Lupin. Since then the two of them had been practically inseparable, and Remus had even joined the pink-haired woman when she'd visited Kimimaro and had a long and serious talk with the young man.

And then there was Kimimaro. The bone-user had been so sick and weak when Harry had brought him to Hogwarts months ago, but now the white-haired man was looking – and feeling – healthier than ever. His curiosity seemed to know no bounds, and he'd been a quick study of the English language, and could by now speak with barely an accent. The Ministry of Magic had, of course, latched onto Kimimaro the second they realised that he was there, but Kimimaro had easily danced in circles around them no matter what they'd tried to do, and in the end it was the Ministry that did what he wanted and not the other way around – as first planned.

The old headmistress had to chuckle at that, having personally witnessed a great deal of Kimimaro's meetings with some pompous Ministry official. It was a great amusement every single time, and she'd even seen the Weasley twins selling tickets to the next meeting between the shinobi and the wizards.

'_Things sure have changed,'_ Minerva mused to herself, completely ignoring the paperwork on her desk. _'All those little children have grown up into strong and responsible young men and women. Even Neville Longbottom has gained confidence and skills, and turned into the embodiment of Gryffindor. His trip to the lands of the shinobi have obviously been good for him,'_ she mused fondly, remembering the first time she'd seen him right before the sorting feast all those years ago.

And then there was Harry.

Harry, who had gone from an insecure and malnourished eleven-year-old to a confident and powerful ANBU Squad Commander. Who had toiled and walked a knife's edge for the past 19 years in order to get to the last couple of Voldemort's horcruxes. She couldn't help but worry what would become of him after everything was done, for there was no doubt in her mind that Harry would survive it. She doubted he would become a teacher, and she doubted that he would stay in the spotlight – whether in the wizarding or the shinobi world.

"He never did like the spotlight," the elderly Hogwarts Headmistress mumbled. _'And after his return and the defeat of Voldemort there will be a lot of spotlight. He'll want to retreat somewhere to be alone and in private, to grieve and to process everything that has happened.'_

"He's a good boy, Minerva," the picture of Albus Dumbledore commented with a smile. "Harry will be fine."

Minerva smiled up at the picture. "I know."

Her fond memories of happier days and young children were interrupted when there was a hurried knocking on the door to her office. Blinking in surprise, Minerva picked up a pen and posed herself so that it looked like she was in the middle of going through important paperwork (image was everything, even to the Headmistress of Hogwarts!), and called, "Come in!"

Remus Lupin opened the door and stuck his head in, his face very serious. "You need to come down to the Infirmary."

"Why? Is something wrong?" she asked and got up from her chair.

"Tonks and Kimimaro just got a message from Harry through their communication medallions," the werewolf replied as he led the way. "There is a great battle going on in the shinobi world, and Harry told them to be ready."

"Ready for what?" Minerva inquired as she and Remus entered the infirmary. Tonks and Kimimaro were sitting on one of the beds, looking ready for some sort of battle, and with the old Madam Pomfrey hovering around them just in case something went wrong. Off to the side stood the Wesley twins, looking uncharacteristically grave, and also Mad-Eye Moody.

"The shinobi are fighting the last battle with Orochimaru," Kimimaro replied in his accented speech.

"What?" Minerva suddenly felt as though the world had turned upside down. She had known that this day would come, but it felt like too soon. Could her – yes, she considered them hers – children handle it? Could Harry handle killing his own grandfather, the same thing that Voldemort had done? Could he handle doing something like that?

'_Stop being silly, Minerva. Didn't you just think on just how grown up they have all become?'_ she chastised herself as she sat down on one of the beds. "Then we shall simply wait until Harry or someone contacts us and tells us what has happened."

Moody, now so gnarled and scarred that he hardly looked human anymore, followed her example and sat down as well, and he was the one who stated what they were all thinking and hoping. "The boy will be fine," he grunted. "And no matter how much Harry has changed in the past two decades, he will never become like Riddle."

-x-x-x-x-

There, please tell me what you think.

This is, most definitely, not one of my best chapters. I know that. But after rewriting the damn thing five times, this is the best result I've had, and therefore this is what you get. I apologise greatly for both this and the lateness of my posts, and shall endeavour to do better in the future. Damn, why is it always hell to write something like this after a long Writer's Block?

Thanks to:

Steven Kodaly, Burning DragonSword, Lady Gaia, BasicallyAnIdiot, 2stupid, dark672, hope1090, Twin Tails Speed, Kira Demon, Kin Pandun, Morbious20, Wolven Spirits, Estheriana, Ore no Naruto, Dragonmage182, The Sleeping Creature, Inner Cameron, litlittledragon, Erisabeisuu, lokoloko-ako, nantukoprime, Saetan, kirallie, FT, EvilSpanker, ladykind, NightingaleRose, Morrolan, Deamon Child, Chosha Kurenai, Garnet Avi, momocolady, Seraph of Tales, HelKat, chineseartist, KitsuneOverlord, Anonymous Sister of the Author, agent radius, Jackie, Twilight Dusk, Karaii, Dark Thorned Rose, bookrascal, chrisperry1, colonelhavoc, padfoot's shadow, yumeniai, MagicallyInclined, queenskin, G, azaneti, Kingdark, Barranca, Beta the Second, Silent-Serpent, Devil-Speaker, Haru Inuzuka, quaero lumen, blake, Inuyasha's hun, Sakiku, , Sabishii Kage, EBIL DUSTBUNNY OF DOOOOM, TakiMizuno, x-Xanti-x, luzopi, Wings of the Night, Reviewer of the West, Merrymow, Alla-Aku2, SilverAegis, Nuvos Ars, Veve, Von, Kaluki, green ninja93, Skidder, Sailor 'Son', xRosePetalx, bloody vaginal vagina, TheOneThatIsAddictedToHPfics, PurpleKiwi, Shelik, 17AutumnLeaves, Dracomancer1, alicat54, anon, Amsuhl, Ryutana, FamilyRose and le angel del la muerta.


	38. Chapter 38

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** I shall tell you a short story: I was searching for something good to read on the site, and lo and behold there was a wonderful Harry Potter/Naruto crossover! I enjoyed it thoroughly and was so happy to find something good. Overjoyed, I was! It wasn't until I was around the tenth chapter before I realised that I was reading and exclaiming over my own story. That was kind of the thing that kicked me into gear and made me update.

**Warning:** Author is feeling stupid for her actions and for not recognising her own story.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Beta the Second.

**Chapter Thirty-Eight**

There were a lot of regrets. Tonks regretted ever having agreed to become Harry's spy in Orochimaru's lair, she regretted ever letting the crazy snake-man to give her the Cursed Seal, she regretted many of the things that she had been forced to do for the same man in order to prove her loyalty and to be able to continue spying on him. She regretted that she hadn't been able to help Kimimaro or see him get better before he disappeared. She had a sneaking suspicion that either Orochimaru or Kabuto were to blame for the bone-user's disappearance, and that meant that Tonks would never see the young man again. She regretted all the years that she had been away from Remus; she'd had numerous nightmares about the werewolf leaving her and not being there when she finally came back. Hell, she had been almost certain that she wouldn't even survive her time in the lands of the shinobi, it was a miracle really.

But one thing she didn't regret was helping to bring about the end of Orochimaru and then Voldemort. She didn't regret the skills she had learned during the years, and Mad-Eye Moody had already put in a good word in for her at the Auror Academy, and when everything was done she would be able to teach her skills there. And, the best thing of all, Remus _had_ waited for her. He'd been the first one to greet her when she had finally reached Number 12 Grimmauld Place, and since then he hardly had let her out of his sight.

The surprises simply kept on coming after that. When she had been transferred over to Hogwarts and the school's infirmary so that Madam Pomfrey could take a look at her and make sure that she was totally alright physically at least, Tonks had come face to face with none other than Kimimaro. He looked more healthy and alive than he had in ages, and she hadn't been able to keep herself from hugging the surprised young man. And then she had to change back into her Tayuya-form in order to convince the white-haired male that she wasn't an enemy.

It had taken quite some time with swapping stories during Madam Pomfrey's check-up, but in the end they had both known what the other had been up to and why they were working for Harry rather than Orochimaru. Tonks had been proud to introduce Kimimaro to her husband, and the three of them had had quite a lot of fun while dancing circles around the Ministry officials that constantly popped up and tried to pull Kimimaro into their little world of backstabbing politics.

"You are getting quite good at handling them," Tonks said once, speaking in English not only to help Kimimaro practice but also because she didn't want to hear another word of Japanese/the language they used in the shinobi lands for at least the last century and a half. It would only bring up bad memories, and she just wanted to heal and forget it all for now.

"Harry-onii-sama warned me about them," Kimimaro replied with a small smile. He had relaxed quite a lot and wasn't as serious as he'd been before. "Their attempts at subtlety and subterfuge are as subtle as... as... uhm..."

"As a hippogriff to the face?" Remus suggested with a smile.

"I am uncertain what a hipp-o-gu-riff is, but yes, I suppose so."

Tonks was happy that the young bone-manipulator didn't hold her treachery against their blooming friendship, and she was also glad that he had become friends with Remus. The werewolf was helping both of them get used to the magical world. Kimimaro had never encountered such a culture before, and Tonks had been gone for so long that she practically had to start all over again. Many things had changed after all, especially with the war with Voldemort still going strong.

"Why hasn't he attacked yet? What's what on that front?" the pink-haired woman asked, genuinely curious why nothing much had happened since she had left the wizarding world.

Remus sighed. "Things have happened. The Death Eaters are raiding and killing – but mostly keep their activities to the wizarding world and the muggle-borns here. I don't think that the Dark Lord expected such a ferocious opposition to his trying to take over, he miscalculated in other words. However, lately rumours have been floating around that he's been doing something else all these years. I'm not sure what, though. Each rumour differs from the next."

Kimimaro cocked his head slightly to the side. "There is some truth in every rumour," he said, leaving it as a subtle hint for the werewolf to continue.

The amber-eyed male nodded to the bone-user in acknowledgement. "One rumour says that he is trying to change his visage from its snake-like visage to something that doesn't stand out quite as much, using the muggle plastic surgery. Another says that he's training in your shinobi-skills, Kimimaro, in order to be able to fight against Harry when he comes back. And yet a third says that the Dark Lord is training an army of Death Eaters and dark creatures large enough to conquer the British Isles and then, afterwards, the rest of the world."

"I have to say that the last two ones sound much more credible," Tonks said and Kimimaro nodded.

"Yes, well, they aren't the only ones that sound credible if you ask me, but I can't remember all the other rumours right now. There are far too many to keep an eye on. If you want a list, then the Daily Prophet recently published a pamphlet with all the rumours gathered."

Tonks blinked in surprise. "That is going to make the conspiracy-theory nuts go, well, _nuts_!"

"Despite it all, your people seem to take the war as some sort of entertainment," Kimimaro said, looking equally surprised.

Remus held his hands up. "Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just a simple werewolf itching to finish this madness."

"Perhaps, but you're _my_ werewolf!" Tonks grinned and pulled Remus down onto the bed beside herself, latching onto his arm and refusing to let go as she cuddled up to her husband. She had been doing a lot of that ever since she had come back to the wizarding world. Not that Remus minded.

Kimimaro fondly rolled his eyes slightly at the cuddling couple. "_Who would have thought you to be such a cuddler, Tonks-san,_" he said to her in Japanese and ducked the swipe of her hand that was aimed for the back of his head.

"Shush you!" Tonks grinned at him. "One day soon you will find someone who will make you go a-"

Remus blinked as Tonks stopped right in the middle of her sentence and she and Kimimaro gasped and stiffed before almost ripping their own shirts off as they searched for the communication medallions hanging around their necks. "What? What is it? Is it a message from Harry?"

Tonks nodded almost wildly as she finally found her medallion. "It's Harry," she confirmed. "He says that the last battle with Orochimaru is going on right at this moment, and for myself and Kimimaro to get ready."

"Get ready for what? He's there and you are all the way over here."

"Harry has had a plan for destroying Orochimaru ever since he went with him," she explained as she allowed the Curse Seal to cover her body. "The Curse Seal goes both ways. It makes us sealed people use up our chakra – or magic, if you wish – at a phenomenal rate, making us stronger and faster and whatnot."

"What has that got to do with anything? In fact, it sounds like a bad thing!" Remus protested, sounding more and more confused.

"Yes, perhaps, but since Harry helped Orochimaru develop this technique he also managed to put in a fail-safe that the Snake Sannin had no idea about. And that fail-safe was put there just for this exact purpose."

"And what is that purpose?"

Kimimaro was the one who answered, "For us to suck Orochimaru's chakra when Harry-nii-sama says so."

Remus blinked. "Suck Orochimaru's chakra?"

"That is what the fail-safe is," Tonks added. "It gives us the power to start leeching on Orochimaru's chakra, to weaken him further."

"But what happens to all that extra chakra?"

"We don't know." Kimimaro shrugged. "But it is of no consequence. All that matters is to help Harry-nii-sama to win."

The werewolf didn't seem convinced, but didn't say anything more and simply watched the two with their Cursed Seals covering their bodies getting ready to act the second that they got a message from Harry.

-x-x-x-x-

Anko hurled every curse and swearword she had ever known and some that she came up with on the spot at the damned cave-in that hindered her from getting to Orochimaru and beating the crap out of her old mentor. If they didn't get a move-on soon, she would personally remove every single stone that blocked her way, and crush it to bits!

"And you are certain that you cannot make these things move or crush them with your sand?" the only wizard on the team was asking Gaara.

The Kazekage shook his head. "My sand has explored up there," he nodded towards the ceiling where all the rocks had come from, "and the only thing up there is more and more rock. If we are not careful, there will only be another rockslide."

"Hum," the wizard mumbled thoughtfully. If there had been more wizards here than just him it would have been so much easier to simply apparate to the other side, bringing the shinobi with them, but since he was the only one here he would be utterly exhausted before he had taken more than four trips – and he would only be able to survive four trips if he brought one and only one person with him. If he brought two, the wizard doubted he would be able to do more than one trip!

"What are we to do now, Kazekage-sama?" one of the shinobi asked.

Gaara couldn't do anything but shrug. "I do not know at the present time," he admitted. There was no need to pretend that he knew anything when, in fact, no one knew how to proceed from here on.

The wizard spoke up again. "I can take at most two people over to the other side," he said finally. "And then I can vanish the rocks one by one, clearing the path for the rest of us. However, this will take time and will be slow progress, especially if I apparate two people to the other side first. I can also take four people over to the other side, one at the time, this time around, but after that I won't be able to do anything afterwards. However, it is something at least."

The shinobi shared looks. Indeed it wasn't truly much, but right then it was all they could do at the time. It was obvious that they would take the wizard up on the offer of sending off two people first before having him 'vanish' all the stones – whatever that truly meant – and then they would follow as soon as there was room to move.

"I will go!" Anko latched onto the wizard and refused to let go. There was no way that she would be stuck here, waiting and being useless. She had a score to settle with Orochimaru.

"I shall go as well," Gaara said. With his sand he was a deadly fighter and yet his techniques weren't as destructive as other people's. It was an obvious choice. "I shall leave the wizard in charge of the rest of you. Follow as soon as you can." He then turned to the wizard. "Take us across and then stay on the other side and clear the rubble."

"Yes, sir." The wizard nodded and put his hand on Gaara's shoulder. "Hang on, both of you. This will not be pleasant for you two, but whatever you do, do not struggle. Otherwise I might lose concentration and you might lose a limb or two. Just stay still until I say so."

"Just get on with it!" Anko snapped.

The wizard grumbled something about leaving behind her head, but apparated with the two shinobi. Once they appeared on the other side, both Anko and Gaara looked a bit green around the gills but neither one wasted any time complaining about it and instead set off down the corridor and left the wizard to start removing the rocks.

-x-x-x-x-

So much had happened in the past two decades. So many things had changed – so many _people_ had changed for the better and for the worse. What had started with Voldemort and had continued throughout the years at Hogwarts and hard shinobi training and life, was now slowly reaching the beginning of the end. To kill Voldemort they needed to destroy the man's horcruxes, and to get two horcruxes they needed to destroy Orochimaru. The Snake Sannin wasn't going to simply hand over Kusanagi, and as a reward for getting rid of one of the biggest criminals in the history of the shinobi lands the Hokage had long ago promised to give Harry the crystal ball of Rowena Ravenclaw.

It was a good deal all around. The only thing that Harry regretted was that it had taken so much time to get done. Why hadn't he attacked Orochimaru before now? Why hadn't he killed the man years ago? He wasn't sure of his reasons anymore. Perhaps what remained of the Gryffindor inside him had balked at the idea of killing family, or perhaps the green-eyed male had still harboured a small, tiny hope of being recognised as Orochimaru's grandson by the man himself rather than his tool.

These things were childish hopes that he couldn't help. His life with the Dursleys had not been picture perfect, anything but, and the small Harry had often wished for someone to take him away and love him like a real family. He'd been overjoyed when Hagrid showed up and introduced him to the magical world, and had embraced that life with all that he was only to find out that the wizarding world expected something terrible of him in return. By the time Orochimaru had showed up Harry had long since become rather jaded but had never been able to rid himself of the secret childish hopes and dreams.

'_I just seem doomed to never have a __family,'_ the green-eyed male thought to himself as he staggered to his feet. _'No, that is incorrect. I have a family. I have Ron and Hermione and the Angsters and Naruto. They are all the family I need.'_

Knowing that he would need all his sight and mobility in order to fight Orochimaru and win, Harry removed his cloak and his ANBU mask. He was breaking about a dozen ANBU rules by removing the mask, but right then he was far more worried about winning than people who already knew who he was seeing his face.

'_It is time to end this__,__'_ he thought as he quickly sent a message to Tonks and to Kimimaro, not caring if he pressed the letters in an incorrect sequence. The important thing was to alert the two. He put the cloak and the mask on the floor slowly in order to make as little noise as possible and alert Orochimaru. He would need every possible advantage against the man after all.

The pale man in question was watching with glee as his two snakes and Cursed Seal-enhanced shinobi were keeping the great Jiraiya and Tsunade constantly on the defensive. The snakes bit and whipped with their tails, but their poison was quickly extracted from wounds by Tsunade and Jiraiya kept deflecting most of the tail-attacks. The seal-users had to be mindful of the snakes and couldn't really get in too close to the two Sannin, but they still bombarded them with kunai and shuriken and senbon and even a few wand-shinobi spells. All in all, it was an effective way of keeping the two former team-mates occupied, and Orochimaru enjoyed it. Now he would have the time to do other things – like take over his traitorous grandson's body or pouring some more of his own power into that handy _Imperius_-spell that Uchiha Shisui was currently suffering under. Perhaps he could make the boy kill his cousin?

However, when he turned around to look at the other fights, he was met not with the sight of Itachi and Shisui fighting to the death, but with Harry having finally regained full control over his body. Having straightened up fully, the green-eyed male was now glaring narrow-eyed at Orochimaru, hands ready to grab for weapons or perform jutsu, and Orochimaru couldn't help but smirk despite everything.

"Yare, yare, grandson of mine, has it truly come to this? Why do you not back down and come back to me? Stop this foolishness. Your comrades are getting murdered, surely you can see that?"

Harry's only reply was to draw his pair of hidden kunai. Orochimaru had, obviously, removed all other weapons from him, but these two kunai had been hidden under a notice-me-not spell, amongst other things, and had stayed hidden.

"So be it," the Snake Sannin said and attacked.

-x-x-x-x-

That's it for now.

I apologise for the long time it took me to update and for the shortness of the chapter, but please review.

I know you people wanted a grand old battle between Harry and Orochimaru, but I wanted to use the next chapter for that and I needed to use this one to set things up. In other words, I did as Rowling did with books six and seven, though hopefully this wasn't as pointless or as long as hers.

And yes, I know where this is going and how it is ending; it's just the writing in the middle that's a bit difficult! Please be patient! XD

Thanks to:

Adnexus, D-sama, Blazing Fury, riley, Cheese lover Tobi, Darkwill0w, Dragonmage182, Damn writer's block, gfhgjihm, BasicallyAnIdiot, hi, frzntears, dr3am3r06, 2stupid, Draconic Ban-Sidhe, LadyoftheDrow, Morbious20, kirallie, Morrolan, VB, Wolven Spirits, DemonicPride2001, Zetsuki, Chosha Kurenai, Shinigami Clara, Anonymous Sister of the Author, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, Key Shinigami, green ninja93, xRosePetalx, wizardmon92, Ore no Naruto, Fate, godzillahomer, kerricarri, Veve, AceZ-Shadow, momcolady, Lady Serenity, AiSard, Ravus7, arithnocrat, Saetan, Koemi-chan, Sdarian, Z-AKA Andrea-, Luna Moonlight Fawn, LadySerenity0000, sashlea, Tsukuyomi99, SteadyEddy, greivergf, Firedraike08, AnachronisticExistence, Phnxfyr1, HelKat, akuma-chan0326, Barranca, Hellfire000, Red Jeanie, mystickitsune92, Wandering Hitokiri, Merrymow, DD, Ash, Mistical Kat, Haely Potter, Sanaro0, FallenAngel, ChibiSevvi4eva, veloveddaughteroftheking, Mistress Sayu, Ruri Kzalt, Ja-Kitsu-Ryou, ellesra, juniper, Obsessive Child, skyflyte12, Amy, Zeppie, Erisabeisuu, Karasu00, Siamh, killing u with umbrellas, Kurisutina-san, CrazyILady, Talia Gea, darkemoperson, Sonia120462, Wisper, Shadow of Flame, Jewelle2, TsumeHikaru, mydog888, Erendhyl, UchihaKumiko, With a Midnight Smile, Capito Celcior, Loatroll, Triss, a fan, puregarnet, Blue-Huntress, Black Firelight, Little Kunai, CatWriter, shellsboy24, cruailsama, Little Phoenix93, FailGate, and AlexWhiteTiger.


	39. Chapter 39

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** I think I have a phobia against finishing stories and it makes me slow down the updates when a story is coming to an end. I just don't want it to end. It's the same for games too. I wonder what such a phobia would be named?

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Beta the Second.

**Chapter Thirty-Nine**

They couldn't win this fight against Orochimaru. They had friends to consider, to worry about, to keep alive, while Orochimaru only worried about himself and no one else. Where the Snake Sannin would have nothing against bringing the roof on top of their heads to kill them all, Harry and his allies couldn't do the same. Oh, they weren't naïve enough to think that no one would die during this fight, but they still didn't want to be flattened to death. Especially since Orochimaru would probably go and escape even with the ceiling falling down around him. And to die without taking down their enemy was something no one wanted.

Harry panted as he tried to keep Orochimaru from killing him. The Snake Sannin was going all out this time around. This wasn't one of their fights during training, this was a whole different ballgame, and the worst thing was that Harry was still stiff and his muscles still slightly unresponsive from his recent stint of unconsciousness. Against a lower ranked shinobi the slight stiffness and unresponsiveness wouldn't have mattered much, but against Orochimaru? Even something so tiny could be the thing that killed him.

Harry was operating purely on instinct; he simply didn't have time to do any big thinking right now. Swing, slice, block, step ba- what the hell was that kunai doing there? Turn it into a roll – Orochimaru followed the movement – go into a handstand and kick Orochimaru in the back with a Banishing charm for good measure.

The Snake Sannin was sent flying but he was lucky and collided with one of his own henchmen before he reached the wall. The poor henchman took the brunt of the magically powered flight and didn't survive his meeting with the unforgiving wall. Orochimaru, however, stepped away from his dead cushion without even bothering to look at the poor nin. Instead his yellow eyes were promising death and torture as they were fully focused on Harry.

"Why so shocked?" Harry sneered. "Did you really think that I downplayed my skills and let you beat me black and blue just because I liked it?"

The fact that he had kept some of his skill downplayed and hidden would help him a bit during the fight. At least in the beginning before Orochimaru adapted to it. However, everything was a boon right now and Harry would gladly grasp at straws if that made sure that Orochimaru wouldn't survive this particular fight.

There was, after all, a good reason that the insane man had gained the title as one of the three Sannin.

"You were studying me," Orochimaru realized. "You never were with me, were you?" he muttered. It seemed as if the true depth of that implication had just made itself known for the Snake Sannin, and he clearly didn't like what that implied. "From the very first time we met in that graveyard and until now."

"Never," Harry confirmed. "Just like you used me, I used you in return."

"Then why are you here in the first place? Why did you accept my offer that time and why keep this charade up?" He seemed honestly curious about this.

Orochimaru knew that he wasn't the picture perfect specimen of a grandfather – not that he cared – but Harry could have, should have tried to leave after getting to the shinobi lands. The boy wasn't so naïve as to think that they would be a family and live in a house with a picket fence, so why had he stayed with Orochimaru even after they had gotten to the shinobi lands? If getting to the Elemental Countries was what the green-eyed wizard had been aiming for he should have left as soon as he had the chance – and he _had_ had chances.

That meant that there was something that Harry wanted from Orochimaru, and it sent a cold shiver down the Snake Sannin's back to think that his grandson might have known who he was long before Orochimaru himself knew about Harry. Could Harry already have been a member of those Aurors or even an Unspeakable? Could it all have been some mission? Ridiculously young children joining the fighting forces weren't unknown or even unlikely – Kakashi and Itachi were good examples – and Harry had always been inventive and adaptable and skilled.

"I was hunting," Harry replied, a smirk rising on his face.

"Hunting?" Orochimaru felt another shiver run down his spine. What did those damned wizards know about him? Did they have a file on him? He thought he had always been so careful whenever he went into that world, but wizards had other ways to track and to trace, so they could have gotten one up on him.

Orochimaru didn't like the thought at all.

For a few brief seconds Harry wondered if he should tell Orochimaru about the horcruxes, but then decided not to just in case the man managed to slither his slimy way out of this fight. The guy didn't need further ideas on how to become immortal, that was obvious. However, that didn't mean that Harry couldn't mess with the man who had been torturing him for the past twenty years.

Kicking off, Harry appeared in front of Orochimaru within a heartbeat, the smirk never leaving his face as he whispered into his grandfather's ear, "Hunting for Kusanagi."

Orochimaru's eyes widened slightly at that.

Or it could have been because Harry had kicked him again and sent him flying.

There was a poof of smoke as Orochimaru hit the wall, the clone being dispelled, and Harry was moving even before the smoke had fully formed. Ducking forwards he could feel just how close a kunai sliced at his neck. The two of them had said what they wanted to say, the fight was on and neither had any intention of losing this battle.

Hermione and Kakashi had been forced back to back, she keeping them shielded while he attacked with kunai and shuriken. But Kakashi was running out of weapons and Hermione couldn't keep a shield up against all of the quick physical attacks that the Cursed Seal users were hailing down on the two of them.

"_Protego_! On your left!" Hermione shouted.

Kakashi kicked his enemy away and then grabbed Hermione just in time to keep her from flying away from him thanks to a wind based jutsu. They had obvious trouble keeping close to each other and neither dared to bring out their more destructive spells and techniques in fear of bringing the ceiling down. Their attackers didn't think about that at all and went all out.

Tsunade had found herself forced into summoning two of her smaller slugs in order to help combat the annoying snakes. Her slugs were poisonous and that helped a bit, but she didn't dare to let them use that attack too much in fear of hitting an ally. Besides, she had her hands full keeping a Cursed Seal user off her back.

Jiraiya hadn't dared summon his frogs, they needed too much room to hop about to be useful in these cramped spaces and the structural integrity was already, slowly but surely, failing. Not that the two Cursed Seal users attacking him would allow him the peace to perform a summoning in the first place.

Manji had dealt with his own first enemy and had moved on to the second, but he wasn't without wounds. He had a bad cut across his back and his ANBU mask was cracked. His katana had been snapped in half, but he still kept a hold of the handle, and he snuck up on an enemy that was busy preparing an attack for Hermione and Kakashi, cutting his neck with the broken blade. The Seal-user fell over, blood gushing from his throat, and twitched only two times before he died and Manji moved on to his next victim.

Arm still useless and hanging limply by his side, Kisame had obvious trouble keeping his attacker away. It was lucky that Kisame was so good with his enormous sword and that Ron was there to make up for the slack, but they were both struggling. Once again they had to make sure not to hit an ally and keep the ceiling from caving in while their attackers didn't care about either one of those things and went full out with their attacks.

Itachi was having his own problems as he battled with Shisui. He had had two opportunities to kill his older cousin, but he hadn't been able to take them. He was, after all, only human. It was one thing to decide that someone had to die, but it was quite different to actually kill someone with your own hands in a close and personal battle. Especially if that someone was not only your cousin but also one of your best friends.

"Shit!" Harry groaned as he took another slash from Orochimaru's weapon. It was a surprisingly deep cut across his chest and had he not moved at all, his throat would have been slashed open and he would have been dead. He needed his arms to cast spells and do hand-seals and hold weapons, so Harry was trying to keep them from getting too cut up and wounded. Their group wasn't doing too well, they had too much to keep up with and worry about while their enemies didn't even think twice about knocking down supporting pillars or arches that kept the ceiling up.

Step back, jump, kick off the wall. That particular bend in the elbow and shoulder signalled the throwing of shuriken. Clanking sounds as he used a kunai to block them off. Kick out backwards, no time to rejoice in the hit! Roll forwards, use a body-switch technique to quickly shift places with a rock, attack, slash, kick, spell. Jump back in a fake retreat, kick off wall and atta- what the hell?

Harry was forced to abort his attack – fuckfuckfuck where did those shuriken _come_ from? – with a curse as someone ran past him and right in the way of his attack.

"Stay out of this! He is mine!" Anko shouted at him as she attacked Orochimaru.

'_Watch where you are running, you crazy bitch!'_ Harry wanted to roar after her. He had had the chance to deal serious damage to Orochimaru but Anko had disturbed him. The green-eyed male really wasn't in the mood to deal with a girl who just couldn't leave the past behind!

"Trouble in paradise, grandson of mine?" Orochimaru smirked as he batted Anko's attacks away almost nonchalantly. "You will never be good enough to beat me, girl," he said to Anko. "You never were good enough and you never will be." It was a very cheap and crude shot at a psychological attack.

"I will kill you," the kunoichi growled and attacked relentlessly.

"**Sabaku Sousou."** _(Imploding Sand Funeral.)_ Sand floated through the air at amazing speeds and wrapped around three of the Cursed Seal users. A second later two had been crushed in their sand prisons while the third had skin that was far too hard thanks to the Cursed Seal – though he was cut and bruised which mean that his skin wasn't too hard to get through. Gaara stepped out of the shadows and towards that survivor, hands already moving into the next jutsu. If he couldn't crush the body, then he would spear it. **"Suna Shigure."** _(Sand Rain.)_

The blood-coloured sand that had crushed the other two Cursed Seal users dropped the bodies and now floated quickly towards the last shinobi caught in sand. Sand hardened and fell like rain down on the captured enemy. At first nothing much happened apart from small, shallow cuts, but then the sand got into the man's eyes and mouth and ears and a head being speared through was not a pretty sight even for most shinobi.

Harry reached up to his communication medallion and a moment later he had sent off a message to Tonks and Kimimaro before he jumped back into the fray. He hoped that the fail-safe he had put into the Cursed Seal would work at least a little bit, but Orochimaru might have figured it out through the years and could have changed everything.

Orochimaru threw Anko hard into the wall before her snakes could wrap around him. He ducked under the attack Harry performed and attacked in return. They ducked and weaved and used jutsu and spells and weapons. Orochimaru got several more wounds when Anko attacked from the side, her snakes' fangs dragging through the flesh of Orochimaru's arm and ripping the skin open. Harry was forced to make a hasty retreat and exchange places with a fallen piece of a pillar to avoid an attack, Anko's snakes disappeared in a puff of smoke as Orochimaru cut through them with a kunai. Harry was starting to curse his fail-safe that wasn't exactly all that fail-safe since it seemed to have, well, failed, when something happened that changed his opinion.

One of the snakes that Orochimaru had summoned poofed out of existence.

Everyone, even Orochimaru, stopped for a second at that, staring in surprise at the dissipating smoke. Tsunade's slugs hadn't damaged the snake – they had, in fact, taken more damage than their opponents – so they hadn't done it. None of the shinobi had managed to get close enough for a decisive cut, either. It made everyone wonder what exactly had happened. Yes, Manda was a fickle summon, but he wouldn't recall his underlings when there was so much good food promised at the end of the fight.

"Getting complacent, Orochimaru?" Anko taunted and attacked again, gleeful that one of the snakes had disappeared.

Harry could see it, though. He could see the understanding appear in Orochimaru's eyes as the man felt his chakra being siphoned away even as he fought off Anko's attacks with ease. Harry could practically hear the gears turning in the Snake Sannin's head before the man's eyes suddenly snapped to Harry's own, realization about what was happening and why and how clear in them.

"You!" the Snake Sannin hissed in pure fury and attacked. It was a ferocious attack. Harry barely had the time to avoid getting dangerously hurt, let alone actually avoid the attacks fully.

"Dammit! I said he was mi- WATCH OUT!" Anko shouted.

Shisui had gotten away from Itachi and had used the body-flicker technique he was so famous for to attack Harry. Harry didn't see the threat and didn't react in time. He wasn't omnipotent and was only human, he made mistakes, and this mistake would cost him dearly.

An ANBU standard issue katana cut through armour, cloth and flesh from the left hip upwards across the chest to the right shoulder.

Blood gushed out and there were shouts of horror from those that could see.

Harry fell backwards, face pale and body exploding in pain.

Shisui's eyes cleared for one precious moment and he stared horrified at what he had done before he was brought back firmly under the control of the Curse Seal and of the Snake Sannin.

Sharingan on full force, Itachi rushed forwards and with a cry of both pain and anger he ran his own sword straight through Shisui's neck. Shisui had time to choke once before Itachi dragged the katana sideways, ripping open his cousin's throat and showering everyone in reach with even more blood. In the next moment Itachi was on his knees, screaming and clawing at his own eyes as if they pained him greatly.

Orochimaru laughed and turned his full attention to the attacking Anko. He ducked her attack, grabbed her throat and threw her into the oncoming attack from Manji. It stopped the Hyuuga in his tracks and sent them both flying backwards. Jiraiya yelped in pain as one of the Cursed Seal users managed to cut him pretty bad, but in return this put the Seal-user close enough for Jiraya to kill him.

Tsunade and her slugs managed to overpower the snake that remained from Orochimaru's summon and it disappeared in another poof of air. The busty Hokage ran right towards Itachi and Harry, and any enemy in her way was removed by a super-powered punch. She fell to her knees beside Itachi and pulled his hands away from his face. She didn't wince at the scratched skin around his eyes, and apart from the obvious pain and the slight redness of the eye nothing seemed to be really wrong. Tsunade put Itachi into a forced sleep to spare him the pain – he was useless now anyway since the pain hindered him from focusing on the fight – and turned her full attention to Harry.

Gaara's sand was floating all around the room and acting as a shield for Tsunade while Gaara himself dealt with his enemies in close combat instead. Manji was close by and took great relish in teaming up with the young Kazekage in battling the remaining Cursed Seal users. Kisame was grateful for the break in enemies since most of them now focused on Tsunade who was still trying to heal Harry, and the shark-like man allowed himself a tense moment or two to check out his own wounded arm. Ron, Hermione and Kakashi all joined the fray of trying to keep Cursed Seal users from reaching Tsunade and Harry, while Anko focused her attacks on Orochimaru who, despite his smugness, had increasing trouble in fending off her attacks as his chakra was siphoned away.

"Damn it! You are not dying now!" Tsunade growled. Her hands were glowing a bright, minty green around the blood from Harry's wounds, and she was healing the ANBU Squad Commander as fast as she could. "I just let you out of the hospital! Who gave you permission to go right back in again this soon?"

Harry wasn't listening. He could hear her and he could hear and see everything else around him, but it all seemed to be muted. As if he was watching it all from a thin, half-sheer, fluttering veil of some sort. The sounds were muffled, the pain was fading rapidly, his body felt utterly exhausted and bone weary.

It was funny the things he remembered and thought of during that time. He remembered getting his first letter from Hogwarts and the chaos that followed. He remembered Ron's failed spell during that first train ride, remembered Norbert, and thought of Dumbledore's constant riddles. Then he remembered the basilisk he had killed and Fawkes saving them all. Neville's boggart would have made him chuckle if he could have, as would Sirius's nickname – seriously, _Snuffles_? Couldn't a Marauder come up with something better? – and he thought of Fred and George's joke shop and that Molly Weasley had been confiscating their products before school started. He remembered the adrenaline of flying with the Hungarian Horntail, the death of Dumbledore and the betrayal of Snape and everything that followed.

Anko screamed as Orochimaru broke both her legs and discarded her on the other side of the room without a care. He turned to Tsunade and smirked. "Tsunade-hime, your work is for nothing. He will die; his wound is too much for his body to handle," he said, looking very excited by the fact.

"Shut up!" Hermione screeched and sent a barrage of spells at the Snake Sannin.

Harry stared at what was happening. He was still feeling as if he was floating and there was a darkness creeping in on his conscious, but the bright lights of the spells made him focus more for a few moments. He knew he couldn't die before they got Orochimaru and especially the Kusanagi. If Orochimaru died with the sword still hidden in his body then they could say good bye to the sword until someone else – in this case Anko – managed to get Manda to give it to her, and then convince her to give it to them. They couldn't afford to wait that long.

"There is only so much you can put a body through before it loses the will to live! And my traitorous grandson passed that line a long time ago. I made sure of it." Orochimaru laughed, enjoying the horrified looks from some of the people around him.

The green-eyed male couldn't really feel the wand in his hand but he knew it was there, and it was pointing in the general direction of the Orochimaru-shaped thing in his vision. What he was going to try was probably the stupid and desperate attempt of a dying man, but hey, at least he would leave an impression and more if it actually worked.

"_Accio_ Kusanagi," Harry barely managed to breathe.

Orochimaru's creepy chuckling stopped abruptly and the man put his hands over his stomach. He looked down in shock as if there was something moving within him, and paled even more – if that was possible considering his skin colour – when he felt something sharp starting to cut his insides.

"No..." he whispered in horror and tightened his hold on his stomach. He turned and ran towards one of the exits, sparing no thought to the people he left behind – enemy and ally alike. He had to get out of here, had to find Kabuto to fix _this_. This which couldn't be happening!

"He's escaping!" Kakashi shouted and would have gone after Orochimaru, but Hermione stopped him. "What are you-?"

"Let's just watch. I hardly think this is normal even for someone like him."

The odd actions from the Snake Sannin had gotten everyone's attention once again and they could only watch the unfolding events in shock and a bit of horror.

Orochimaru hadn't taken more than ten steps before he stopped and bent over, still clutching his stomach and groaned in pain. A bulge appeared under his skin and seemed to move around while a dribble of blood ran down his chin. Orochimaru seemed to struggle to keep something inside while the thing inside tried to get out. For a few moments it was unclear who would win, but then the thing inside burst out in a shower of blood and guts and a scream of pain from Orochimaru. His entire left side had been ripped open as the Kusanagi flew out of his body.

The sword couldn't deny the call of a simple summoning charm and clattered to the floor next to Harry's body.

Orochimaru fell over. Not even he could continue on anywhere with his chakra being stolen away from him and his body hurt so seriously.

Harry managed a small, triumphant smile and relaxed into the black nothingness.

"HARRY!"

-x-x-x-x-

There, that's that. Please tell me what you think.

Yes, the chapter is short, but I found it better than to suddenly put in something else. The fight took the entire chapter and it seems appropriate.

I am sorry about the almost two years between updates. This fight nearly killed me. I think, though, that future updates will be quicker now that the fight is over with.

Before anyone complains about the difficulty such high-ranking and highly skilled shinobi had when fighting the Cursed Seal users: for one I think they were made ridiculously easy in the anime/manga (seriously, I doubt even genius gennin would be able to beat experienced Seal-users). Secondly the good guys don't want to bring the ceiling down on them all in a kamikaze attack without being 100% sure that Orochimaru will die too, which they weren't so they didn't do it.

Concerning Itachi's reaction after killing Shisui. I have never watched the anime or read the manga that far so I have no idea how it was depicted in canon. However, I do think that something like that isn't only psychologically painful but also physically painful. The entire eye sort of shifts and changes and for such a sensitive thing it can't be painless.

There will be no love interest for Harry whether slash or het. I considered it, but so much is going on that a love interest would just complicate things. Perhaps I will write something for a small extra chapter and if so it will be het. Other than that minute possibility there will be nothing.

Thanks to:

Ikidori, Black Firelight, archara2shoot, Siamh, kirallie, Lord Drake Salazar Slytherin, frzntears, Morbious20, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, Von, xRosePetalx, KRP, killing u with umbrellas, Arizosa, potterinu, candinaru25, BasicallyAnIdiot, Phoenix Eternia, chocolatte-delight, Blue-Huntress, Red Jeanie, Coffee and Twinkies, Sora Hoshi, Midoriryu, Fate, Kurisutina-san, AliceHatter, KiraDemon, HarrySlytherinson, Tempete Sanguine, Barranca, SeanS, PyromaniacBlackWings, x-Hallelujah-x, grey-shadow-horse, romantiscue, Not Applicable, Mistical Kat, Eriklover101, NightingaleRose, Dragonmage182, moneymakestheworldgoround, azoth13, Morrolan, G, animeangel2439, Yurrei, Jarski, firehedgehog, CodyAHM, Lady Knight Keladry, PhoenixFTW, chaosong4, Fumie Hatakeda, uzumaki misaki, Andor Swifthblade, HikaInStyle, D3athrav3n92, Kitsumi-Hime, Unsigned, QuietInsomniac, BlackRose-FlowerofDeath, mountainelements, EmbreytheInsaneNinja, Serenity Moon2, Flame150, jgood27, Zsenzsen, Chibi Tenshi Sama, cagna, ~, Safire Ranmako, BleachedShadow, KafeiDetour, perfectly weird, No- I'm not on facebook., A Fan, Arlaikeeno, Reivyn Arcuri, Tsuki Doriimaa, KaggyAlucardSesh, Jewelle2, nautikitti, DeathSidhe, thesagerk, Lady Avotil, ForgottenTales, Hanzo of the Salamander, niwa-k, BloodyStar-Nightshayde, cross-over-lover232, IntheOnionsCorner, Navi, Rena the pirate jedi wizard, hedwigfan, BundleofContradictions, GirlOfDeath, meamz, Hellhound15, Booker10, beadwork, lokoforsonic9559, PrincessFuFU, Night Kiryuu, demu, myxs, Blinded in a bolthole, destroying tokyo, crazikido2, PossiblyInsane213, inuficcrzy, Blackdragonpi, Polish, AramilOniasha, and Glennis.


	40. Chapter 40

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:**As I promised the updates will be quicker now that the dang fight is over. I have also updated myself on the newest happenings and revelations in the Naruto manga. Unfortunately I find that to be some of the most cliché things I have ever read, and so I am pretty much in denial about it all. I shall spare you the full rant.

Correct chapter up when beta finishes.

**Chapter Forty**

The entire shinobi population currently in Konoha were dressed in black mourning clothes. They were all standing in neat rows, from academy students to genin to chuunin to jounin and the occasional ANBU. All of them were mourning those that had been lost during the fight, and the Hokage was holding a short, memorable speech as she stood in front of the pictures that were all that remained of the dead. The ANBU and the Hunter-nin had made very sure that the bodies had been properly destroyed by fire and then that even the ashes had been destroyed. Even now they didn't want an enemy getting their hands on any secrets.

The academy students were serious as was proper, but they didn't really fully understand yet. The genin were feeling uncertain about their futures and the futures of the comrades they had grown up with. The older shinobi already had their own special ways of dealing with death, and more than one of them would visit their old companion alcohol that night.

The sun was shining cheerily despite the sombre mood of the gathering. The sky was a nice blue, it was warm outside, and not a cloud was in sight. Most of the villagers went about their usual routines without ever really knowing that there was a funeral for dead shinobi going on inside the village. Mothers were dragging children around, children were screaming and laughing and running, people were haggling over prices, old crones were gossiping and the sound of hammers could be heard through the village.

It was a total opposite to the shinobi.

Harry didn't know any of this. He was still fully unconscious and once again back in the hospital. His ANBU-mask was gone, he was dressed in a simple pair of hospital pyjamas, and someone had pulled the cover up to his chest. There was a monitor on his finger, an IV-drip needle stuck in his skin, and an oxygen mask covered his mouth and nose. Various machines around him were beeping and keeping track of vitals, and he was the only patient in the room.

Several chairs around the bed indicated that he often had company around and more than one person at the time. Someone had even brought along a fresh flower and placed it in the small vase on the bedside table, the windows were open, the light curtains flapping gently in the soft breeze, and the room was bright and cheerful.

Too bad that Harry's eyes didn't appreciate the nice room when they opened. The light was too sharp and green eyes were clenched shut at once.

And that was about the length of his wakefulness that time.

He opened his eyes slowly the next time, but by then it was night – and he had absolutely no idea if it was the night following the day he had opened his eyes the first time, or a totally different night altogether. His internal clock was smashed to pieces and buried six feet under. In the darkness of the room Harry could still make out a shape in the chair next to his bed, and by the breathing pattern, the height, and by the seemingly light clothes and hair, the green-eyed male was pretty certain that his sleeping visitor was Naruto. At this point Harry decided that the boy had a good idea and went back to sleep.

The third time he woke up it was daylight again and a nurse was in the room, puttering about. It took a few minutes before she noticed Harry watching her, but then she was by his side and checking over vitals. "It's wonderful to see you awake again! Everything seems normal for now. I'll go get Hokage-sama. She insisted on being notified when you came to again. Just stay right here and I'll be back at once!"

Harry wanted to remark that it was unlikely that he would go anywhere, but the nurse was already out of the room. The Boy-Who-Lived spent some time looking around the room – nope, hadn't changed at all apart from a forgotten telltale orange jacket on a chair. He had to admit it was getting mildly annoying waking up and falling asleep at the drop of a hat seconds later.

The annoyance still didn't hinder him in falling asleep again before the nurse got back with the Hokage.

The next time he woke up raindrops were tapping against the window. And he wasn't alone in the room either. Hermione and Ron were there, sitting on each side of the bed, and they were already looking at him.

"Don't try to talk." Said Hermione in English. "You've been out of it for about two weeks. The wounds you got were serious and even Tsunade wasn't certain if she could save you. It was terrifyingly touch-and-go for a while in the beginning."

"You've lived up to your title again, and boy am I glad for that." Ron grinned, the Mizukage-robes flung carelessly over the back of his chair. "You gave the nurse a scare and a half the last time. She was terrified that you had died during the short time she was gone."

"The battle had several casualties, I'm afraid. Shisui is dead, as are several others. The wizards have taken a heavy hit, but not as bad as the shinobi. The Cursed Seal-users decided to bring down the roof when Orochimaru died." Hermione could practically hear the question in Harry's eyes. "Yes, Orochimaru is dead. Kusanagi ripping out of him didn't kill him, and Jiraiya and Tsunade finished him off together."

Ron's smile stayed wide. "We got the Hokage's crystal ball and took it and the sword to a secret place, and then we proceeded to destroy them both. No more horcruxes. Well, apart from Nagini and that other one we never could track down."

Hermione brushed a wild strand of her bushy hair behind her ear. "Orochimaru had arranged a breakout from the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility, and though a few died and a great deal of others were hurt, they managed to beat down the uprising fairly quickly. Naruto is fine, Sasuke is fine, and all of the genin and younger are fine. The general public doesn't really know that there _was_ a break-out."

"You trained your angsters perfectly, Harry, so no need to fret." Ron squeezed his hand. "I can see your eyes slipping shut, so go back to sleep. When you next wake up we'll have to call in the Hokage so that she can check you over, and you'll need all your strength for that. Konoha needs the best ANBU Squad Commander back on his feet as soon as possible."

"And we need to know what happens next. What we're going to do about Nagini and that last horcrux. But go to sleep, Harry, and we'll see you when you're rested again."

Harry obeyed. It wasn't like he could keep his eyes open much longer, all his meagre strength had gone into staying awake while Hermione and Ron gave him a quick update on things so far. He sighed and let his eyes fall shut. Ron and Hermione were speaking quietly somewhere but their voices were getting more and more distant, and, in the end, Harry fell into resting unconsciousness once more.

-x-x-x-x-

Two weeks after the conversation with Ron and Hermione, Harry was finally able to sit up in bed and be awake for more than five minutes at the time. The oxygen mask was gone, the same with most of the machines. The IV-drip was still there and Harry had to consciously stop himself from scratching at the skin where the needle had been pushed in. He didn't want to dislodge it again and go through another lecture from Tsunade and Hermione and Chihiro and Manji and pretty much everyone else who dropped by his hospital room.

Harry was certain that they had made a schedule for visiting him. No sooner had one party gone when another party entered, all the way through visiting hours. At least they were kind enough to smuggle in some real food. Used to it or not, Harry didn't want to eat too much of the muck that the hospital called food. Perhaps the hospital should hire some gourmet cooks? That would certainly help people get better and avoid food poisoning on top of whatever else ailed them.

He said so to Tsunade when she was checking him up.

"Hah! If you can come up with such ideas then you're definitely getting better!" the busty blonde grinned widely and pulled back from adjusting the IV-drip. "It'll take some weeks yet before you're out of the hospital, and after that I don't want you doing anything but paperwork for at least a month, maybe more. I'll have to see how it goes. Your body has been really strained for the past two decades, Harry, it can't take much more. It's a common ailment with shinobi, especially with those who spend most of their time in the ANBU or Hunter-nin corps."

"Well then, it's a good thing that I'm resigning from my position as ANBU Squad Commander." Harry calmly and without worry sipped the herbal tea Tsunade had brought him.

Tsunade turned serious, but not angry. "I thought you might." She said with a sigh. "It's high time for you to step down or take an extended vacation – like Jiraiya and myself did when we left the village. Learn to live again."

"So glad that we see eye to eye on this."

"But at least stay on long enough to give me a new ANBU Squad Commander." The Hokage grumbled. "I've gotten so used to your efficiency that the rest of them seem like bumbling idiots these days! Get me a good person to take over for you, and I'll let you go back to simply being a chuunin – for that official rank has never been changed. And think, you can end up in the academy teaching the upcoming generations how not to kill themselves with a kunai."

Harry shuddered and grimaced at the thought of himself as a teacher. "The horror."

"You'd be good at it. Just look at your angsters." She smiled.

Green eyes glared at the Hokage. "One more wisecrack out of you, and I'll be running away forever!"

She laughed.

A little over a week later Harry was finally discharged from the hospital.

"You're out of the hospital!" Naruto cheered and jumped around like a terrier on crack. Harry had to look away from the orange and yellow boy to keep himself from becoming dizzy and falling over. No one needed to know that he had blackmailed the Hokage into letting him out a little earlier than she had intended.

"A week's supply of the best sake in Konoha if you let me out today!"

"Two months' supply!"

"Two weeks!"

"A month, and no less!"

"Deal!"

Of course, Harry knew that there was no way Tsunade would have let him go if she hadn't thought that he wasn't healed enough. She may be an alcoholic addicted to sake, but he was first and foremost a healer and a Hokage.

And then, of course, Manji had the splendid idea that Harry needed a "getting out of the hospital and leading us to victory against Orochimaru" party, and everyone else agreed. So here they were, stuffed into one of the BBQ restaurants – much to Naruto's dismay, he had wanted ramen, damn it! – and Harry was watching all of them joke around and have fun. He himself was stuffed next to the wall with Naruto opposite him, and the others had claimed whatever seats they could get to before the restaurant staff brought out three extra chairs for the unlucky ones at the very end.

"We had to drag Sasuke here, the bastard! But I showed 'im, believe it!"

Sasuke scoffed. "Hn."

"Naruto, don't speak with food in your mouth!" ordered Sakura. "Some more bacon, Sasuke-kun?"

"-and there are dragons. Honest to god living, fire breathing dragons," Hermione was explaining to Kakashi, Manji and Itachi. "They're huge! About the size of the Hokage Tower when standing on their hind legs. There are, of course, several species and every one of those varies slightly, but the nastiest is the Hungarian Horntail. Trust me, dragons you don't want to face when you're alone, but the Horntail least of all."

"I wonder if I could change the emblem of the Uchiha to a dragon and leave the fan to the Uchiwa?" Itachi mused.

"I want to see a dragon." Kakashi was fascinated.

"I want to own a dragon! Chihiro, can we get one? We can raise it and name it Chuu!" Manji turned puppy-dog eyes on his wife.

Chihiro was immune. "No, we cannot!"

Hermione nodded. "It's illegal. We had a teacher who once tried, though his was only a Norwegian Ridgeback. We were eleven at the time." And with that simple sentence she had everyone's attention once again.

"Don't worry about your wife, Mizukage," Tsunade was telling Ron. "She's fine, the baby's fine, and soon enough you'll have to worry about a little devil getting into trouble all over the place."

"Can I help it that I worry about my future child? And the beautiful, wonderful mother who is the light of my life?"

"She has you trained alright!" Jiraiya laughed.

"Sakura-chan! Look at what I can do!"

"Naruto! That's not how you're supposed to use chopsti- Sasuke-kun! You too?"

"Defend yourself, Naruto!" Sasuke grinned and a chopstick-duel developed between him and Naruto.

Harry let his eyelids slide halfway shut and let the chatter wash over him, relax him, calm him, heal him.

This was how it should always be.

-x-x-x-x-

Harry, Ron and Hermione were gathered in Harry's apartment. Just recently Harry had nominated a new ANBU Squad Commander for Tsunade and had officially and unofficially gone back to his chuunin rank. This gave him a lot of new free time, so the trio had decided that it was high time to actually sit down and focus on how they were going to destroy Voldemort once and for all.

"So, to sum up, all the horcruxes are gone except Nagini and the last one that we have no idea about." Ron sighed. "That's at least something. How can we be certain Voldemort made seven horcruxes anyway? I mean, usually it's bad enough to make _one_ horcrux, let alone seven of them!"

"Seven is an important magical number," Hermione lectured at once. "In all fairytales and in runes and everywhere you will find the magical numbers three, seven, twelve, and so on. Voldemort isn't going to be stupid enough to trust to luck. No, he'll guard himself against everything by any means he can. Besides, seven is about as much as a soul can be parted in. I don't think even he would survive parting his soul _twelve_ times."

"Nagini will be relatively easy to take care of." Harry said. "Give her a poisonous mouse, chop off her head, and take away her oxygen with a spell, easy all of it. The only problem will be getting to her. From what I know Voldemort always has her near himself, so if we get to Nagini we should be getting to Voldemort at the same time."

"Again, I feel I must remind you both about that last, unknown horcrux." Ron pointed out.

"Well, the only thing we can do with that is research, research, research. There's got to be a clue somewhere about what it could be. As soon as I get back to my shop I'll start on the research. I'll call in some favours, too, to make it go faster. Voldemort has had free reign for almost twenty years, it's about time he was stopped."

Harry nodded to her suggestion and then leaned back and let Ron and Hermione brainstorm their way through which contacts that might help them with the upcoming research. He took the time to observe his two best friends, and it was almost as if he was seeing them for the first time again.

They had grown older. Wrinkles and laugh-lines and crow's feet at the corner of their eyes that hadn't been there twenty years earlier. Their faces were mature and both held themselves with a sort of attitude that came with age and wisdom and power. They were both alike and different from the young teenagers that Harry remembered from before all of this happened, before he had ever met up with Orochimaru. That was actually the last time that Harry had had the chance to slow down, observe his friends and really look at them both.

To tell the truth Harry couldn't really believe that he had spent more than twenty years of his life fighting a war on two fronts – Orochimaru here in the world of the shinobi and Voldemort in the world of the wizards.

He felt exhausted.

"Have you guys ever thought of what you want to do after everything is over?" Harry suddenly spoke up.

The other two, who had been in the middle of a minor argument, turned and looked at him.

"I mean, it's obvious that this war can't last forever. We just got rid of Orochimaru and soon Voldemort will also, hopefully, be dead as a doornail and without any chance of coming back ever again. But what are you going to do after that? I suppose that the matter is settled if you die during the battle against Riddle, but if you survive? What will you do?"

"I…" Hermione trailed off. "I suppose I didn't really want to think too much about what comes after the end, I didn't want to end up too cocky and make a mistake that would have gotten all of us killed. I've just spent the last twenty years of my life working to take down two majorly evil men; I'm not really good for much else. Sure, I have a little store, so I suppose that I can always stick with that, but I'm not sure that I _want_ to continue doing something that will simply bring back memories. But…" she trailed off again, this time thoughtfully. "I think I would like to go home and visit my parents. Before I came here I told them I was working on a secret government mission, and they were okay with that. I have exchanged some letters with them, and the Order's agents have checked in regularly and send me updates on them, but it's not the same as seeing them. Yes, I think I'll go home and spend time with my parents once this is over."

Ron smiled and leaned back in his seat. "Visiting parents sounds good. I have parents and brothers who have all been nagging me about bringing along my Rukia and the child, too, if it's born by then. Hum, I think Rukia would like my family, and mum would have another little tot to go all gaga over. I'm not sure if I can manage that much time away from the village though. Being Mizukage isn't all fun and games you know? The paperwork alone… Ah, well, I suppose I can arrange to have my family come to the shinobi world for a vacation and then meet up with them. Though, I would like to see Hogwarts once more. I miss the old castle."

Hermione sighed happily. "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy warty Hogwarts! Teach us something, please! Oh, I can't believe I still remember the school song that we sung on that very first time we entered the magic castle, right after our sorting. Yes, visiting Hogwarts is definitely a must. I wonder how much it has changed since we were there. What about you, Harry? What are your plans?"

The green-eyed man hummed, a small smile on his face. "Who knows? It will be… different not to have to fight anyone anymore."

"So you're giving up the life of a shinobi?"

"Yes, Ron, I am. I'm giving up the life of a shinobi and the life of an agent for the Order of the Phoenix. Once Voldemort is dead I don't want to have anything to do with death unless someone attacks me personally."

"What are you going to do then? If you stay here in Konoha you will be dragged into _something_ that has to do with shinobi – teacher, supervisor, you name it. If you move to another village then word will spread and shinobi will come and challenge you for you are the Wolf of Konoha and Orochimaru's grandson."

"And if you go to the wizarding world you won't get a moment of peace. According to all reports from the twins the wizard newspapers have gotten some really vicious reporters and paparazzi of Rita Skeeter's ilk." Ron winced at the very thought. "That will be hell. Not a moment of peace alone."

Harry just smiled some more. "I have a place in mind, far away from wizards and shinobi alike so fear not."

Hermione's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Hum, based on maps, locations of wizards and shinobi and your personal preferences, I think I know what possible places you have in mind, but I won't say anything yet – or to anyone if you really wish to be left in peace."

He nodded to her in thanks.

"Well, I could probably figure it out if I had some maps to look at and some more time to think – not all of us are geniuses on par with Hermione's standards, after all – but I do have another question for you." Ron looked at him. "You going to tell Naruto and the rest of your little angsty group of people about your plans, or are you just going to up and disappear on them?"

This time Harry sighed and shrugged. "I'm not really certain about that," he said and shifted slightly in his chair. He'd had almost constant muscle aches across his body where he had been wounded during the fight with Orochimaru, and he was really feeling tired of it, but Tsunade said that it was a good thing. Apparently it meant that he was still healing and that his body wasn't so damaged that it had given up, and a lot of medical jargon Harry hadn't bothered to listen to.

He just wanted the aches to be over.

"I'm not certain if I should tell them now," he continued. "I mean, I don't even know if I'm going to survive the battle with Voldemort – remember what the prophecy said, one of us has to kill the other – so I don't want to give anyone false hope or anything like that. Besides," Harry grunted and shifted again, "these aches and the chest-wound won't let me into any sort of battle for at least another month, perhaps two. So we have more than enough time to get information, figure out what that last horcrux is and how to get to it and to Nagini."

"And I'm going to have to go back to Kirigakure soon. This trip to Konoha was… unplanned to say the least. I only came to make sure that Harry survived the battle – the reports of your wounds were worrisome – and I dropped pretty much everything and was gone during the night." Ron frowned. "Rukia supported me, but others won't. There's this up and coming kunoichi, Mei Terumi, who seems to be gaining popularity as the next Mizukage. She's a good woman and a kind one, but I'm not quite ready to give up the reigns yet."

"Perish the thought that you become one of us poor, mere mortals." Harry remarked dryly.

Ron threw a pencil at him. "Says the one who is a hero and major figure in note one but two – count 'em! _Two_! – worlds! Let me have my moment in the spotlight, damn it!"

The former ANBU Squad Commander snorted. "By all means, take it! Take all the spotlight you want! I don't want anything to do with it!" he threw the pencil back at the redhead.

The Mizukage stuck out his tongue.

"Oh very mature!" Harry said, then produced a senbon needle from… somewhere, and threw it at Ron. "If you want a tongue-piercing that much I'll give it to you!"

"Hey!" Ron easily deflected the senbon and returned a shuriken.

Harry drew a kunai.

"Boys!" Hermione shouted. "Act your age! What would people think upon seeing the Mizukage and the Konoha ANBU Squad Commander acting like little children?"

"They'd think we were happy about Orochimaru's final downfall, and we are." Ron muttered.

"Is that really okay with you, Harry?"

"I'm no longer Konoha's ANBU Squad Commander. I'm a simple chuunin and I have all the right in the world to act however I wish. Besides that, I don't really care about what they think or about Orochimaru." Harry grumbled, but put away the kunai.

Hermione looked at him. "Really? After twenty years of working for and against the man who is your _grandfather_, and you feel nothing?" she obviously didn't believe him.

Hell, Harry didn't really believe himself when it came down to it.

He sighed and shifted – again! – and looked away from her.

"Harry-"

Ron cut her off. "Leave it be, Hermione. It's obvious that he has some feelings about the situation, he isn't Voldemort after all, but he can't give you an answer right now. He needs time to figure things out and then, when he's good and ready, he'll tell you. Or he won't. Just leave it be for now."

"I'm just-"

"Worried, I know." Harry smiled slightly.

Hermione sighed. "Alright. I won't say a word about it unless you want to talk. But don't expect me not to worry!"

"We wouldn't dream of it." Ron quipped.

"I'm starting to feel like we're back at Hogwarts in our early years. I jump into things, Ron tags along as a sidekick, and Hermione does the real work, has the brains of the outfit and worries about us all."

"Sidekick? Who are you calling a sidekick, Potter? I haven't been a sidekick for nigh on twenty years! Say that to my face if you dare!"

"So you admit to being a sidekick before?"

"Argh! You're dead when I get my hands on you!"

"Ron! Harry! Stop tha-! PUT DOWN THOSE WEAPONS, YOU TWO! ARGH! MEN!"

-x-x-x-x-

There, done.

An easy, relaxing chapter with a silly little ending. Hope you like!

Yes, Itachi got the Mangekyou Sharingan. This was my take on it.

Now, several of you have asked me why Harry didn't simply _accio_ Kusanagi before. Well, here are your answers:

** A)** It was a desperate last attack which was done half-unconscious, it wasn't planned at all.

** B)** Harry didn't know about Kusanagi being a horcrux until very recently and didn't have the chance before.

** C)** Harry wasn't stupid enough to fight Orochimaru on his own, and even when he had help it was difficult.

** D)** Harry didn't use his own Curse Seal to siphon strength from Orochimaru because there was no time for it.

** E)** If Harry had known and had done it earlier, there would have been no story.

** F)** The author needed a way of getting rid of Orochimaru, and that was the only thing the author could come up with.

Thanks to:

beloveddaughteroftheking, Hellhound15, Night Kiryuu, meamz, HolyKnight5, QuietInsomniac, Shinigami Clara, frzntears, Von, Lochar, Kouru-Kage, Novus Ars, kirallie, Hanzo of the Salamander, Umei no Mai, Simpleinsanity, FatesShadow83, killing u with umbrellas, TheWiseSirIvanTheShadowLord, Beta the Second, DeathSidhe, JediHPfan, Barranca, No- I'm not on facebook., Lady Avotil, DD, BlackRose-FlowerofDeath, PadfootPet, Gogolu, Mika Chan 55, xRosePetalx, doraemax, PrincessFuFU, GirlOfDeath, myxs, Dragonmage182, DemonicPride2001, JakeTheSheepy, Kitsumi-Hime, 2stupid, cristi08, Morrolan, ShineX, the kraken is my pet, Niwaki, Geniusly-Unique, AceZ-Shadow, heaven's blade, mist shadow, kitkatbitback, Chibi Tenshi Sama, spiralgal, Chosha Kurenai, Ethorin, Glacarius, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, BundleofContradictions, Prawnio, Van der Ay, ILoveAnime89, sami, CrystalBlues, Kitiara Woodbane, ZeniaFlower, Vampyre Moon, Lonecannan, Skelo, Ireadtomuch, Jenni, OnTheImportanceOfLungs, Noctisis Rrhagia, BlackDragonNaruto, booksquirt, Historylife, Bazerkerking, Meccha, codyskater31, (…), lmn, n'Faele, skipper 1337, Dragoon Preston,


	41. Chapter 41

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious; the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** I didn't mean to be gone so long, but I've started a new job and moved and I'm getting used to things slowly. Therefore my updates will be slow.

Correct version up as soon as beta finishes.

**Chapter Forty-One**

"It's no use, I just can't figure out what the last horcrux is." Hermione sighed and looked down at her papers. She and Harry were sitting in one of the many teahouses in Konoha, enjoying the sunlight and warm weather and a snack while they were at it. Ron and the wizards had all left Konoha in the past week, and things had gone back to relative normalcy – as normal as things could be in a hidden village of shinobi.

"Hum." Harry looked down at the papers himself. It was the research Hermione had managed to dig up in the past week, and it was a respectable amount considering the short time she had had, but she had also been right. There was absolutely nothing in her research that could tell them what the last horcrux was or could be.

"Of course, the Dark Lord could have simply made only six, but I doubt it." Hermione continued. "He was so very careful about everything else that I doubt he would have left something this important to a non-magical number." She groaned and ran a hand through her hair. "I just don't know."

"Well, Voldemort never made anything easy for us before, did he? And we managed to figure out his plans back when we were eleven. We can figure this out, too." Harry replied and sipped his tea. He was really enjoying his retirement from ANBU. For one, the free time he suddenly had on his hand was wonderful for relaxing. And with the Hokage's order to take it easy until she was satisfied with his healing, Harry had spent a lot of time simply walking around the village or even sitting here and there, reading books he had gathered throughout the years but never had had the time to read.

He had even dared to read Jiraiya's _Icha Icha_-series.

Hermione huffed and bit down viciously on a snack. "Yes, of course we could figure it out if we had more information. Which we don't. It's not like we can pop over to England, walk up to Voldemort and say politely ask him to tell us about his horcruxes and everything else."

Harry snickered at the very thought. Yeah, they couldn't exactly go and do that, sad as it was. It would have made things far too easy. Would have been very nice, though, to simply be done with everything. This taste of almost-retirement had made Harry hungry for more peace and lazy days. He found that he rather liked being 'retired' and not having to worry about things anymore, letting the younger generations take over as it were.

He still had to stop his instincts of racing off to do ANBU work whenever he noticed the slight signs of ANBU at work. Almost thirteen years of being a part of ANBU were hard to shake off in two weeks. It would take time, but it helped that Harry didn't want to return to ANBU work.

"So, how are you holding up, Harry?"

Hermione had, apparently, given up on the research for the moment.

"Enjoying retirement. You've seen me about, reading books. I think I'm getting a reputation as a bookworm."

She smiled. "As happy as I am that you've taken an interest in reading once more, I wasn't talking about that. I was asking about this entire thing with Orochimaru."

"You said you wouldn't ask."

"I said I would leave you be, yes, but I still worry and you know it. Harry, he was your grandfather."

He sighed. "I know, Hermione, believe me, I know. How I'm holding up, huh?" Harry looked out at the people passing by the little teahouse. "I'm sad he is dead – as you said, he was my grandfather – but I'm also relieved that at least one enemy is in the grave. What else can I say?"

"Well, you could tell me how you feel about being the one who killed him." Hermione watched him with hawk eyes.

Harry snorted and waggled a finger at her. "The cause of his death, yes, but not the one who killed him. I led to his demise, but Jiraiya and Tsunade did the deed itself."

"That's a thin distinction, Harry."

"Thin but very important. I'm not like Voldemort, I will never kill family – evil grandfather or not. I mourn the grandfather, but not the evil villain he was and he was more the latter than the former."

Hermione stared at him some more, looking remarkably like Professor McGonagall, but then smiled and leaned back. "Alright. Alright, I believe you. You're okay-ish with it despite everything despite him being your grandfather. However, you do know that if you need to talk or someone to listen or anything, I am at your disposal, right?"

He smiled. "I know and I'm very grateful. Now, let's get back to this researching thing and see if we can't get anywhere."

Hermione groaned but picked up her papers.

-x-x-x-x-

Tsunade poked and prodded, touched and pulled and moved limbs around, her face very serious as she examined Harry's body thoroughly. It took half an hour of everything before she was finally satisfied and allowed Harry to put his shirt and flak jacket back on again.

"The healing is going very good. Your muscles have knit up together as they should, the skin is sticking together as it should. There is proper elasticity in it, too. Your range of movements is a bit worse off and I don't think it will ever improve and go back to what it was like before the battle with Orochimaru. You could never have continued as an ANBU Squad Commander had you even wanted to." She said.

"It's a good thing that I don't want to, then, no?" Harry smiled as he put on his clothed.

"Wanting to or not, shinobi are never truly happy when they retire fully or simply from ANBU. Yet you seem very happy with it, and I've had no reports of you showing up in the ANBU headquarters simply because you're used to it." Tsunade sent him a look.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm keeping away. I'm retired." He had more control than that. "And I never wanted to be a shinobi in the first place."

Tsunade blinked. "You didn't?"

"Heaven's no!" Harry grinned at her. "You know how Orochimaru operated. Pretend to be a saviour and drag whatever poor sod into his service any way he could."

"So he tricked you?"

"Nope. I knew exactly what he was doing, but I needed to come to the shinobi lands and he was conveniently there."

"So you used him instead." The Godaime Hokage shook her head. "You know, that sounds very much like Orochimaru himself. His blood bred true in you. And he taught you very well."

Harry shrugged. "Whatever it was it has served me well throughout the years. And I pride myself in not being half as bad as Orochimaru ever was."

"Thank the gods for that." Tsunade snorted. "I don't want to fight you ever. Now, you've gotten better but your body should still rest as much as possible. You are getting older and rest is the only thing that can help you now. You've pushed yourself too much these past years. I'll give you another week of rest before I set you back on the active roster again. I have several piles of paperwork that you can help with."

"All hail the wonderful paperwork." The sarcasm in Harry's voice could have buried all of Konoha in a layer a mile thick.

Tsunade whacked him on the head – gently. "You should be grateful that you survived at all. Now, what about that Voldemort you have talked about? The guy who was the reason you wanted the Hokage's crystal ball. What will you do with him?"

"Kill him."

"And how will you do that?"

Harry cleared his throat. "We're still working on that. We're missing some information that's rather vital. After that, well, I don't like planning too much. Too detailed a plan and there is more chance for something to go seriously wrong. So, when it comes time to actually get rid of him, I'll see. Depends on the situation."

Tsunade nodded. "Alright. Just let me know whenever you disappear. I don't want you noted down as a missing-nin or something."

The green-eyed male simply smiled.

-x-x-x-x-

The biggest problem that they had, as far as Harry could see, was that they knew that Voldemort had seven horcruxes but that they didn't know what the last horcrux was. Five of the abominations had been taken care of throughout the past two decades by the Order of the Phoenix, the wizards being more and more insulted whenever they found a new horcrux and found it tied down to one of the wizarding world's most important historical objects. That was like a slap in the face of all wizards courtesy of Voldemort, a 'look what I did and you can't stop me!', and they all hated it more and more. Everyone was just ready for the war to end.

But that brought them back to the beginning: they knew they had two horcruxes left to get rid off and destroy, and one of those was Nagini herself. But what the devil was the last one? Why was it so much better hidden that even Hermione Granger couldn't find it?

It was a question that Harry pondered very often these days. He had all the time in the world now to wonder about such things, chuunin ninja had quite a lot of free time and Harry, who was still on medical leave, had even more free time than anyone else. So what else was he supposed to do but wander around Konoha and wonder about horcruxes?

Then there was the prophecy. Sybill Trelawney's only real, honest to god prophecy. The shinobi didn't know about it as far as Harry knew, that was on a strictly need-to-know basis and not even most of the Order members knew what it actually entailed. And unless they wanted a leak it was best to keep it that way.

The entire 'neither can live while the other survives' part of the prophecy was a bit weird, come to think of it. Because both Harry and Voldemort were alive and had been so these past twenty years or so. Unless that part was not to be taken quite literally and meant more something like 'neither can have a normal life until the other kicks the bucket because until then they will be so focused on each other that they forget everything else'. That sounded at least more plausible.

The prophecy clearly stated that Harry and Voldemort had to fight each other and that only one of them would survive the fight. But why? Why was the part about Harry and Voldemort killing each other so damn important? Or, in other words, why could only they kill each other? Why couldn't, for example, a large team of Order members and shinobi descend on Voldemort's hideout and together work to kill the Dark Lord? Even Voldemort had to buckle under a few dozen Killing Curses and various sharp weapons and jutsu thrown his way.

And what about the part that said that Voldemort would 'mark him as his equal'? Harry had the mark already, the lightning bolt on his forehead that he knew he was never going to get rid of. It was there to stay, there for the entire world to see and ogle at. It represented everything so far, from the start and to the end.

Harry sighed as he leaned back on his couch. His apartment was silent once more, his friends all out on missions or other work while he enjoyed the calm of a medical leave. He rather enjoyed not having anything to do or to worry about. If he survived the fight with Voldemort, Harry had a feeling that he was going to thoroughly enjoy his retirement.

"What if the scar isn't the only mark?" he muttered to himself, half asleep and almost drifting into dreams. Harry dreamily followed the thought deeper, further.

What if the scar _wasn't_ the only way Voldemort would mark him? Hell, what if it wasn't the way of marking spoken about in the prophecy? What if there was another mark? One that people couldn't see but that was still there and that tied him to Voldemort? Like something that would allow him to speak parseltongue and see what Voldemort was doing even if they were miles upon miles apart on different continents? Like something that allowed Voldemort to send Harry dreams and that allowed Harry to see what happened around the Dark Lord whenever he was feeling strong emotions?

Harry jumped to his feet – well, jumped as much as he could with his muscles still paining him – and started pacing his apartment.

Could he be the last horcrux? Unwittingly marked when Voldemort tried to kill him, and without the dark lord knowing it? Or, more likely, Voldemort knew it but thought that he was safe because he had had other horcruxes to depend on. Could this really be the answer to the riddle they had been searching for?

Why hadn't he thought of this before? Had he really been that focused on taking down Orochimaru and finding the other horcruxes? Or had he been so focused that all horcruxes bar Nagini had been objects rather than living beings? But Nagini should have given them a hint, especially Hermione, that living beings could also be horcruxes. Perhaps Hermione could have seen it but she hadn't because she was Harry's best friend and always wanted to keep him out of trouble as much as possible? Could that be the reason they hadn't found it so far?

But… if it really was true and Harry was the horcrux, what did that mean for him? The horcruxes had to be destroyed so that Voldemort could be killed. Destroyed.

Harry had to die.

He sat down on the couch again, elbows resting on his knees and looking down at his hands.

Harry had to die so that the rest of the world had to live. He had to give up everything now that he had finally defeated Orochimaru, now that the light at the end of the tunnel was finally visible. He had to sacrifice himself again for the entire world to live. Twenty years of working to take down one madman wasn't enough suffering? Could he really give it all up? The promise of the calm retirement that he had wanted? Watching Naruto grow into the best Hokage ever, seeing Itachi finally settle down – Harry was still betting that the guy was bordering on asexual – watching Manji finally produce a mini-Manji, Kakashi perhaps getting together with Hermione (there was some suspicious chemistry between the two despite the age difference). And everyone else. Could he give up his life to save theirs?

Yes. There was no doubt in his body that he could and that he would.

Hell, Harry wasn't even certain that the hypothesis was even workable or true! Him. An accidental horcrux. The chances of that actually being true were a billion to one. Not a million, a _billion_. But what else did he have to go on? It wasn't like he could simply ask Voldemort about it. Or even get within three kilometres of the Dark Lord without being swarmed by eager Death Eaters who wanted his head on a platter in order to impress their master.

Harry snorted. "Here I am, getting through my angst of finally being at the end but apparently having to die, and Voldemort of all people is making it difficult for me."

He shook his head and sighed. This wasn't going to be easy at all, was it? The problems were just growing and growing.

One: he had a hypothesis of being the last, unknown horcrux but he had no way of testing that unless he let someone kill him. If he was wrong, things would go to hell in a hand basket.

Two: according to the prophecy only Voldemort could kill him, but that wouldn't happen if the Death Eaters had any say in it. No, Harry would never get anywhere close to Voldemort while he was in the guise of Harry Potter. He needed something else, someone else. Say, like Wolf of the Konoha ANBU. Sure, he had quit the job and all, but Voldemort didn't know that. And the Dark Lord had actually contacted Ookami the ANBU while Harry had visited the wizarding world and Hogwarts.

Three: how to contact the Dark Lord? How to contact the Dark Lord in a way that the rightly paranoid man would know who he was?

"The letter." Harry muttered to himself, heading towards his bedroom and the charmed secret compartment he had there. When he had visited Hogwarts like Ookami, Voldemort's Death Eaters had attacked and they had handed Harry a letter from the Dark Lord. He opened the charmed room and pulled it out. There it was, the letter.

Just like the Death Eater had said all those months ago, just like Harry had read all those months ago the Dark Lord wanted shinobi on his side, the Dark Lord wanted to hire them and the man was promising a huge amount of money if they joined him for at least a little while. The alternative to joining up with Voldemort was to accept a mission. A mission that involved killing one Harry James Potter. Voldemort had wanted Ookami of the Konoha ANBU on it because he had heard that Ookami was one of the best shinobi on the continent apart from the –kages.

The letter finished with:

_'I give you twelve months to make up your mind. When you want to speak to me, then come to Stonehenge – even a muggle could tell you the way – and find the little snake I have placed there. She will report to me, and thusly I shall come straight away and our meeting may get underway. I look forwards to a long and fruitful partnership, Mr. Ookami.'_

The twelve months were almost over. More than ten months had passed since Harry had been in the wizarding world and received the letter. Twelve was a magical number. Stonehenge, while no longer in use, was still a magical place. Wild magic, powerful magic. It was obvious that Voldemort was going to try something there even if Ookami refused to join him or work for him. Hell, he probably planned to do something even if Ookami agreed to work with or for him.

The entire undertaking would be very dangerous.

It was the only thing that Harry could come up with. In twenty years of searching they hadn't gotten a single rumour about the last horcrux, and here he might be it. Voldemort had given him a reason and a means of contacting the Dark Lord, of luring him out and coming face to face with him.

It was the best shot they had. It was the _only_ shot they had.

"But," he reminded himself, "I need to make sure that Nagini is killed, too, no matter what happens to me. I won't be able to do it so someone else will have to. But if I alert people to this crazy plan too early they will hinder me and stop me, and we can't afford that." He spent the next two days trying to figure out it, trying to come up with a plan that was simple and that could work in any number of scenarios. In the end he thought he had something.

This was going to be tricky. It would require specific timing from himself and what he did prior to the meeting with Voldemort, but it could work. It wasn't like they had anything else to work with anyway.

Now he just had to wait patiently for a week or two more and he could finally set off his trap to catch the Dark Lord and end his life for good one way or another.

This was going to be it.

-x-x-x-x-

There, done.

Sorry it took so much time. I've been moving and starting a new job, so I didn't have time to write. Hopefully it will be better in the future.

Concerning some things that have been brought up:

- timelines: the war with Iwa, Orochimarau leaving Akatsuki, etc, can be attributed to three things: one being that I did mistakes when calculating things, second being that I changed it for the sake of the fanfic, and thirdly being that it's not really important.

- names: yes, I know, names aren't the same as in Naruto canon. This fic was started six years ago or so, at which point we had very little information when it came to the names of, for example, the Yondaime Hokage. So stop mentioning it. I'm not going back to change it when it isn't really important.

- on other stuff: the title of this fanfic has been discussed in previous author's notes. Harry being a jounin while briefly teaching Team Seven some chapters back, well, it was a temporary promotion. Harry being labelled a missing-nin way back at the start of the story while he still wasn't affiliated with a hidden village: the way I see it 'missing-nin' is a broad term for all ninja who have left villages or simply never belonged to one – but also because most ninja do or did belong to villages. There are very few ninja-families who never did belong to a village, and people simply assumed.

And if small things like this or Remus calling Harry 'cub' makes you want to stop reading, then stop.

Thanks to:

OnTheImportanceOfLungs, godzillahomer, myxs, ocsummers, LynnGryphon, Beloved Daughter, sugarpancake, Barranca, ShineX, Nankinmai, Kitsumi-Hime, kirallie, FatesShadow83, killing u with umbrellas, xrosepetalx, Lady Avotil, Niwaki, Skelo, Von, Fk306 animelover, daemonkieran, Falcon's Jade, Black Firelight, KoiGirlPGSM, BioHazard82, AceZ-Shadow, Dragonmage182, lounger, Stelmaria, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, XcrimsonroseX, anon, ShaDow EmpIre, komi, TheBlackSeaReaper, Lumikki, Ishkabod, Lady Icicle, lordamnesia, Reader-anonymous, Asumi-Blood-Wings, asdf, twilightnemo, bakasaru264, Kingdark, Nalya, PrincessFuFU, tladar, mist shadow, ABundleOfDaydreams, Syron13, Karasu97, Chk, Teucrian, hpfan, SimFlyer, GenoBeast, and DialACow.


	42. Chapter 42

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** I updated this story twice in one year. Damn, I'm good. Oh yeah! Let's see if I can't make it three times!

Correct version as soon as beta finishes.

**Chapter Forty-Two **

"Ne, Harry-onii-chan, are you sure you're totally fine?" Naruto asked. His eyes were squinted comically as if he could suddenly develop x-ray vision and see everything that went on inside Harry's body and mind. He had been fretting like an old woman while Harry had been in the hospital, and it was almost just as bad after Harry got out of the hospital.

"Yes, Naruto, I am totally fine." Harry sighed in fond amusement. "Seriously, you shouldn't worry so much. Tsunade fixed me up. You know she wouldn't let me out if it wasn't the right time."

Naruto frowned. "Yeah, but the old hag's also very easy to bribe with sake."

Sakura whacked him. "Not when it comes to patients. Tsunade-sama would never do something to endanger someone else's life."

"I'm having a serious déjà vu moment here." Manji muttered and Kakashi, Iruka, Itachi and Sasuke nodded. This was almost word-for-word the same thing that had happened back when Orochimaru had beaten Harry to a pulp and Harry had collapsed right before Tsunade had taken up the mantle of Hokage.

"Are you sure you're-"

"I am completely fine. I am so fine that I'm almost getting sick of it, so stop your nagging."

"I'm just worried!"

"I know you are, and I appreciate it." Harry reached out and ruffled Naruto's already crazy hair. "I really do appreciate it," he repeated, "but if you ask me one more time in any way, shape or form if I am fine, I swear I will throw you to Hermione's mercies and let her deal with you."

"Gaah?" Naruto looked absolutely terrified. "You'd do that? You'd give me over to the crazy lady who spends her days in the dusty library? Do you know what that could do to me? You evil man! You horrible man! You abuser of young children!" he hurriedly inched away from Harry – not that he got far before he bumped into Sasuke gave Naruto an annoyed look.

Sakura sighed. "Naruto, it's not the end of the world to actually read a book. It won't bite you!"

Harry wisely decided not to say anything about Hagrid's beloved _Monster Book of Monsters_.

"It is horrible!" Naruto waved with his arms and nearly hit Sasuke in the face. That earned him a glare but he didn't seem to notice. "She'll have me reading through scrolls and scrolls on things I don't understand! I love Hermione-onee-san, but she's gonna squeeze my brain out through my ears with all that reading!"

"You don't have enough brain to be able to do that." Sasuke piped up. "At the very most you could develop asthma. The scrolls in the library are dusty."

"Yeah! Yeah! See? Sasuke's with m- HEY! TEME!"

And off the two went, running out of Ichiraku's and down the street and through the village, chasing each other once more.

"Sasuke, Naruto! You didn't finish your food!" Iruka shouted after them.

They passed the ramen stand at regular intervals, shouting abuse and whatnot at each other and Sakura sighed and shook her head. She finished her ramen, thanked the grownups politely for the meal, gave Harry her well wishes, and then promptly ran after Naruto and Sasuke as they passed the stand once more. "Hey! You two! Stop it this instant!"

"He started it!" Naruto shouted and pointed at Sasuke.

"I don't care who started it, I'll finish it!"

Harry couldn't help but chuckle as the game progressed and shook his head. He almost felt painfully old as he watched the children run around and jump up onto buildings and down from buildings. They were so damn energetic he had to wonder where the hell they got the energy. He turned to Ichiraku where the man stood behind the counter. "Do you put some sort of speed-energy-demon pills in the food you give the kids?"

Ichiraku laughed. "You're simply feeling the effects of age, Harry-san, if you don't mind my saying. I remember what it was like when I realised that I couldn't keep up with my own daughter."

"I'm turning into a fossil." Harry pouted.

Manji reached over and patted Harry's shoulder. "We all are. You're just the most fossilized of us all. I'll start carrying a hammer and a chisel in case we need to excavate you, okay?"

"You know, that would have sounded vaguely reassuring if you didn't seem so eager and weren't grinning like a demented idiot while you said it." Kakashi grinned behind his mask. "Besides, you are just as old."

Manji opened his mouth to protest, then stopped up and finally gave up and pouted. He adopted the same look and pose as Harry. "The younger generation isn't listening to the older one anymore. Woe is us! Whatever will happen to this world of ours where the old and the wise aren't respected?"

Harry would have usually participated in the argument and banter, but right now he was feeling too old to do that. It was kind of depressing; he was in his thirties and feeling like an ancient geezer. He was far too young to feel this old. Shinobi life really did make you age much faster. Harry was kind of amazed that Tsunade and Jiraiya had kept themselves as fit and had stayed as formidable as they were. They were both way past their fifties and they were still some of the most lively and deadly shinobi around. Harry felt old next to them. It was almost annoying to tell the truth. Even the slow aging of wizards didn't seem to be able to help in this situation.

Perhaps it was the fact that everything was drawing to a close?

Or it could simply be the horcrux situation that was weighting him down.

He was willing to bet on that last one.

"How are you doing, Itachi?" Harry looked at the young man sitting next to him. "How are you holding up after everything that's happened?"

Itachi stopped eating. "I… don't really know yet. The Uchiha Clan – both factions – is suddenly… different. Sasuke is different. I am different." He reached out to touch his temple. "This new version of the Sharingan that I've awakened. It has been mentioned in family scrolls, it's honoured amongst the Uchiha. I wish that I never had it."

"I never did apologise about Shisui." Harry said quietly. "From the moment that I gave him Orochimaru's Seal I took his life away. I am very sorry about that. I wish things had turned out differently."

"I wish so, too." Itachi sighed.

"Can you ever forgive me for the role I played in his death?"

It was silent for a good long while before Itachi finally replied. "I don't know at this point. It's too soon. I still love you as my older brother and teacher and guide, but you were still the cause of my best friend and cousin's death. I know you didn't mean it to happen like this, but still. The feelings are… too raw still."

Harry nodded and didn't push anymore. Understandable. That Itachi was still willing to talk to him and to be in the same room as him, and to join these occasional small dinners was a miracle in itself. It gave Harry hope that someday they could be almost back to normal again. It would never be back to how it was, Shisui would always be gone and that would always hang between them, but one day perhaps…

-x-x-x-x-

Harry was making dinner for himself when Naruto showed up at his apartment and plunked down in one of the chairs. Putting his arms on the table, the blond nearly collapsed into them, groaning and looking utterly exhausted beyond all belief. Naruto was actually out of energy, and that made Harry raise an eyebrow. What the hell had happened to the kid to make him like this? Already adding more food to accommodate Naruto's black hole of a stomach, Harry turned to cast the blond a look. "And what brings you here, Naruto? You look like crap."

"Harry-nii! Don't say that. I feel like crap, you don't have to point it out. It makes it more obvious and I feel worse," came the muffled reply.

"What happened to you to make you like this, then?"

Naruto mumbled something.

"What? I didn't quite catch that. Please repeat?"

"Hermione-nee-chan caught me and had me working in the library helping her all day long."

Harry grinned. "And that made you this exhausted?"

Blue eyes peeked out at him and sent him a weak glare. "She's crazy! She reads like a machine, I can't keep up at all! Even with my bunshin I was outclassed! It's embarrassing that I was beaten by someone who isn't even a shinobi."

Unable to help it Harry chuckled. "You do realise that when you become the Hokage that you will have to deal with such amounts of paperwork daily? Isn't it best to get used to it as soon as possible so that you're more prepared when the time comes?"

Naruto paled even more, mouth open and then, with a keening groan, he seemed to simply melt away and fell to the floor in a defeated heap of orange and yellow. He looked utterly torn between his life-long dream and the evil amounts of paperwork awaiting him in the future, and Harry could kind of understand. The amount of paperwork Harry had had to do while ANBU Squad Commander had been monstrous, the amount a Hokage had to do was even worse.

"Here now, sorry for breaking your will to live. Have some dinner?" he said and couldn't keep a grin off his face.

"You didn't break my will to live!" Naruto declared as he picked himself up and sat on the chair again. "You did injure it severely, though, so I think I deserve something for desert for my mortal afflictions!"

"Hah! Good try, kiddo, but I know you've eaten ramen and I know Hermione's taken to carrying around a bag of Chocolate Frogs for you and your two hellion team-mates for when she kidnaps you into her dusty lair of evil books. So it's a no go for desert."

"Awww! I object!"

Harry flickered Naruto's nose as he placed a platter of food in front of him. "Object all you want, brat, you're still not going to change my mind. Eat up or I'll give you some more paperwork to deal with."

The blond's nose wrinkled but he dug into the food. "Meh, I'm not worried about it. I've figured out a way for me to deal with the evil paperwork once I become the best Hokage there ever was."

"Oh?" Harry tucked into his own meal. He was sitting opposite Naruto, and observed the boy closely. "And what is your brilliant plan pray tell?"

"I'm gonna hand it all over to my secretary and to you! Think of it as a punishment for making fun of me in my young and impressionable days."

The former Gryffindor smiled and shook his head in amusement. "But what if I'm not there?"

Naruto stopped up, food halfway to his mouth. "What?"

"What if I'm not there?" Harry repeated. "What if I refuse to help out? What if I leave Konohagakure? What if I'm dead?"

Naruto jumped up, looking almost panicked. Considering Harry's recent streak of ending up in the hospital with mortal wounds on his battered body and slowing reactions and instincts, it was no wonder that Naruto was in this state. It was a conversation far too close to his worst nightmares, and he hated it. "Don't talk like that, Harry-onii-chan! You won't be dead! I'll protect you! You'll be here! You will!"

"But what if, Naruto?"

"What do you mean '_what if_'?"

Harry sighed and looked down at his food. "What would you do if I left the village?"

"Left the village? Like… like the old hag and ero-sennin did? Right? Leave like that, right? Not for good, right?"

Harry shrugged. "Perhaps. Perhaps for good."

The blond slowly sank down into his chair. "I don't…. why would you…?"

"I never wanted to be a shinobi, you know, Naruto. I never wanted this life in the first place. I am glad I met you and the other angsters – and hell, even Manji – and I'll never regret that, but, I never wanted to be a shinobi. I'm thinking of, well, I suppose it would be like Tsunade and Jiraiya did and take some time off from the village and the shinobi matters and simply be another civilian face in the crowd. I've always wanted to travel around at leisure and explore this world at my own pace. Perhaps I might find some little village somewhere and might even settle down there without telling anyone where I am. I don't know." Harry looked at Naruto. "What if I did something like that? Would you hate me for it?"

"Hate you!" Naruto seemed shocked once more. His blue eyes were wide as he shook his head. "Of course I wouldn't do that! I just… I don't want to lose you! You're my only family, Harry-onii-chan!"

"You wouldn't lose me, brat, you would simply not know where I am. Isn't it the same when I go on a mission? Except this time it would, hopefully, be without the added danger."

"… You're certain about that? You wouldn't forget about me and everyone else would you?"

Harry snorted and reached out and flicked Naruto's headband. "What do you take me for, brat? I would be relaxing, not becoming an old, mindless codger who doesn't know what's up and what's down."

"… If we wanted to could we come visit you?"

"Perhaps not at first. I just need some space away from everything shinobi for a while. I don't know how long that would take, but, I'm pretty certain that in the future you could do that."

"And you're certain you wouldn't forget us?"

He didn't bother replying to that one and only sent Naruto a droll look. Honestly, it was almost as if the kid expected Harry to keel over into dementia any second now. He may be feeling ancient, but Harry wasn't quite _that_ old, damn it!

Naruto took a deep breath as if bracing himself. "Alright. Alright. If you find that you have to leave then I give you permission to do that-"

"_You_ give _me_ permission?" Harry raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"-but! But you have to promise to come to my Hokage ceremony!" Naruto continued as if Harry hadn't spoken. His eyes were determined as he stared at Harry. "Okay?" Naruto held out a hand.

Harry thought for a moment then smiled again. "I think that's doable." He shook Naruto's hand and sealed the deal. "How could I say no to the future Hokage?"

Naruto grinned. "You better believe it!"

-x-x-x-x-

_I have solved the riddle. I know what the last horcrux is. I have gone to take care of it._

Harry looked down at the short note he had penned. It was blunt, perhaps a bit too blunt, but it would simply have to do. The note wasn't meant to do anything but make people suspicious and make them come after him. Placed on his small dining table it would look innocent enough apart from having been written in English rather than Japanese. Seeing as the most likely person to find the note would be a shinobi who did or didn't know English, two things would happen.

One: they knew English but had no idea what a horcrux was, and would contact Hermione to ask her.

Two: they didn't know English and had to contact Hermione in order to translate for them.

Of course if it was a wizard or witch who found the note and who was or wasn't in the know about the horcruxes and all that, then they would still head to Hermione in order to get it explained. And most wizards had the subtlety of a herd of running hippos compared to the shinobi so the shinobi would notice something was up very quickly.

Whichever of the two options happened Harry was practically guaranteed that people would come after him. He just needed to make sure that he had a big enough head start on them to keep them from catching up with him too soon. Well, various preparations for such a chase would definitely take some time to organise, so Harry estimated that he would have about a day head start at any point in time, most likely less the closer they came to England and to Stonehenge. He would have to travel fast and work fast.

It was a good thing that he still had his speed and most of his stamina for the run from Konoha to the portal in Wind Country. He wanted to save his magical strength for the battle with Voldemort, and therefore he didn't want to apparate until he was out beyond the borders of the Elemental Countries and back in the normal world again. Running from Konoha to the portal wouldn't be too hard, the distance was manageable for someone like Harry even after his injuries. The distances outside the Elemental Countries were longer and harder to cross since there were so many oceans and mountain ranges in the way. No, it was best to save his strength for as long as possible.

"Alright, you are cleared for active duty once more," Tsunade had said the last time Harry had had a check-up. The new Hokage looked quite satisfied with how things were progressing. "No more ANBU work for you, and I want you to start out as chuunin for now and take the easier and simpler missions. After a while I'll promote you to jounin."

"You don't have to, I'm far happier being a simple chuunin." Harry had replied with a grin.

Tsunade frowned. "Well, I suppose some ANBU have a tendency to want the simple life once they first get retired from ANBU duty. Either way, the promotion will be waiting for you whenever you decide that you want it. Honestly, it's a wonder they didn't promote you already after all these years even if they did or didn't know about you being an ANBU."

"I turned them down the one time they did try." Harry replied. It had actually taken several years before he had been offered the chance to move to juunin, and when he turned them down old prejudices had flared up again and he was considered suspicious once more. It was the usual thing, so he wasn't worried about it. Besides, he truly did like being a chuunin. People were so much more open around him and considered him more normal than juunin and the ranks above that, and Harry liked that. He had always wanted to be 'just Harry' after all.

"No wonder the council seems to dislike you." She snorted. "They would have considered that a mortal offence. Add to that your maternal grandfather and it's a wonder that you haven't been labelled a horrible heathen who should be locked up or just removed from the face of the earth."

"They tried to do that, too."

"Which one did the try to do?"

"Both. I am annoying like that, I don't want to die quite yet so I refused to give in and survived. They didn't take very well to that fact."

Tsunade sighed. "I hate that such things are going on in my own village."

"Homura and Koharu did what they thought was good for the village." Harry said.

"That may b e so, but I still don't like it at all. I don't want to set a precedent and give the impression that it's okay to plot the death of fellow villagers. Besides, you've done more good for the village than those two old bats ever have. At least you always tell me outright what you mean rather than speak in riddles and try to trick me into going along with your opinions. And you would never side with Danzo!"

The green-eyed man smiled. "And I bring you sake."

"Most importantly. Damn good sake, too."

That conversation and check-up had taken place a few days ago. Harry knew he wasn't in as good a shape as he had been before, years of fighting and a hard shinobi life had taken their toll on him, but he was still pretty certain that his current abilities would be enough to defeat Voldemort once and for all. It would be anything but easy, of course, especially with the amount of power Voldemort had amassed these past twenty or so years. However, it wasn't like Harry was one to let impossible odds defeat him before he had even tried. He knew what he was doing. He just had to get close to the Dark Lord and the rest would, if everything went according to plan, fall in on its own.

Just a little bit more and all of this would end.

It was time to leave.

-x-x-x-x-

There. Done. Please tell me what you think!

To **sambrooke** who complained about the start of this story, about Orochimaru being Harry's grandfather and Harry punching Bill and killing monks. I would like to address that. Firstly, this is a fanfic, so why is it so odd that timelines were slightly altered and Orochimaru was old enough to father a daughter? Secondly, why is it so odd for Orochimaru to search out his progeny and why is it odd for her to have red hair? You are complaining about genes! What if Orochimaru carried a recessive red-hair gene and the mother had a dominant gene? Even someone like Orochimaru would, most likely, at one point have a one-night stand and that might lead to children. Besides, the shinobi world has no problem sending twelve year olds into war so it isn't too unbelievable for a rather young Orochimaru to have intercourse. Later on he probably needed to get away from the shinobi continents because he was being hunted so he decided to go see if something came from that one-night stand. Besides, wouldn't he figure that someone who has his blood running through their veins would be better for his body-switching technique?

Now for the second part, about Harry. It all comes down to choices. In certain situations you make choices even if they aren't the best. That is what Harry did. He needed to get to the shinobi continent and took the only opportunity he had to get there. He needed to convince Orochimaru of his loyalty or be killed before he could ever get there, so he did. It doesn't mean that he liked what he did, or that he found it easy to do, but in a do-or-die situation (even if it was of their own making) most people would do rather than die. Sacrifice a few for the good of the world, as it were.

Lastly to **Good story but**: yes, some people hate the fact that their half-siblings have a different mother or father. What you think of it doesn't matter because it does happen.

And now on to something completely different: no, Harry will not be paired with a female character from _Naruto_ or from _Harry Potter_. It wouldn't fit here in the story, and, quite frankly, I can't see him getting together with anyone from either of the two fandoms. I said this at the end of chapter 39 and probably some other chapters too. This is the last time I say it.

I realise that these explanations won't be read by someone who never got past chapter four, but at least it's provided now.

Thanks to:

OnTheImportanceOfLungs, Asumi-Blood-Wings, TheBlackSeaReaper, BasicallyAnIdiot, Black Firelight, ShaDow EmpIre, lokoforsonic9559, ladyyuuki16, Unsigned, kirallie, Skelo, Von, Beloved Daughter, Calecus, FatesShadow83, xrosepetalx, PrincessFuFU, Kouru-Kage, twilightnemo, RJLL, killing u with umbrellas, Reader-anonymous-writer, Dark Neko 4000, stoictimer, Ungodlyone, Kiaranassimu, Redstarling, mist shadow, RokibaHatake, LadyTeldra, agenthal, Stelmaria, KoiGirlPGSM, AceZ-Shadow, Wonderbee31, Niwaki, Shadow Owner, Ni Mats, Riddle Wraith, Guest, Acerbus86, the most magical jordan, mezz 5052, izzywizzyme, Xxsarbear-chanxX, Battle neurosis, lounger, and JuMiKu.


	43. Chapter 43

**Over the Hills and Far Away**

**Disclaimer:** I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** An update! An update! My kingdom for an update! On another note for the second part of the chapter a simple "…" indicates English, while "-…-" indicate Japanese being spoken.

Correct version up as soon as I find a good, durable beta.

**Chapter Forty-Three**

For being shinobi it took them almost an entire day before they noticed that Harry was gone, and then about an hour more before Naruto – with Sasuke and Sakura in tow – finally had enough and used his key to get into Harry's apartment where he found the little note. He picked it up, cocked his head at it, turned it around once, twice, and finally decided that nope, he still couldn't read it no matter how much he tried.

"What's that?" Sakura asked.

"A note from Harry?" Sasuke took it from Naruto and tried reading it.

"It's written in that weirdo language Harry-nii-san speaks. We've gotta take it to someone who can read it. I think Hermione-nee-san is at the library again."

"What are we waiting for, then?" Sakura ran off and the two boys quickly caught up with her.

Hermione wasn't in the library. She wasn't at any of the places that the genin expected to find her. After searching throughout the entire village they were finally told that she was at the Hokage Tower in a meeting with Tsunade and various other people. The three headed straight there and bowled through anyone and everyone who tried to stop them until they came to a stop in front of the doors to the Hokage's office and the two forbidding ANBU guards that stood outside.

"We've gotta go in!"

"Hokage-sama is in a meeting." One ANBU said.

"You will have to wait." The other added and pointed to the comfortable couches against one wall.

Sakura stepped forwards. "But this is important! We've found something!"

"It can wait."

"It _can't_ wait!" Naruto waved his arms around to illustrate. "This is important!"

"So is this meeting. You wait."

Sasuke growled. "We found a note from Harry-san and we need Hermione-san to read it. It might be important and might explain why Harry-san isn't here."

The two ANBU stopped up and shared a look. The one on the left spoke up again. "Give me the note and I'll deliver it to Hokage-sama."

Naruto frowned and stepped back. "Hell no! I'm gonna do it! I found it! And this is my Harry-nii-san we're talking about! There ain't no way I'm staying back at the sidelines if he's in trouble. Again. Not gonna happen! You better believe it!"

With the three genin taking up a defensive stance and position and with the determined look in their eyes, the two ANBU decided that a fight in the Hokage's foyer wasn't really worth it and one of the ANBU slipped into the room. The other ANBU stood guard and kept a sharp eye on the three kids until the first ANBU returned three minutes later. "Hokage-sama bids you enter."

Watching the ANBU suspiciously the three genin scurried past them and through the open door. The Hokage's office wasn't full, but Kakashi was there, as well as Tsunade herself, Shizune, Jiraiya, Manji, Itachi and – most importantly – Hermione. Naruto lit up at seeing the bushy-haired woman and hurried over, babbling a mile a minute and waving the scrap of paper around like a windmill. He didn't calm down and speak comprehensibly until Sasuke walked over and whacked him on the back of the head. "What was that for, teme?!"

"Just give her the damn note and shut up!"

"Oh yeah?! And who's gonna make me? You?!"

"I'm-"

"No you're not!" Sakura whacked them both before smiling at the grown-ups. "Sorry about that. We found that note in Harry-san's apartment and we thought it might be important. It's written in that Eng-lish language. We think."

Tsunade sighed. "I know you went there about an hour ago. You couldn't have come straight to me instead of running across the entire village first?"

Naruto frowned. "Hey, hey, grandma! We tried to find Hermione-nee-san but she wasn't anywhere!" he ignored Tsunade's glare and turned to Hermione. "Why couldn't you just be where we needed you to be?!"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at them, amused, and watched as first Sasuke tried to make Naruto shut up, Sakura tried to break up the ensuing argument and finally Itachi, Kakashi and Manji stepped in by pulling the three genin apart and literally holding them still at three different points in the room. She shook her head at the chaos and turned to the note, taking it out of Naruto's hand and reading it.

"Does it say anything?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh yes." Hermione nodded. "Harry's figured out the last piece of the puzzle and has gone off to deal with it. Alone. I'm going to kill him when I get my hands on him." Seeing the looks on their faces, she sighed. "These horcruxes, they aren't easy to deal with. They aren't safe even for an ex-ANBU Commander. They are extremely dangerous."

"What are they really? I've always wondered." Itachi held Sasuke close.

"They are pieces of a person's soul. A horcrux is a container for a piece of soul and as long as it is around the person cannot die until the horcrux itself is destroyed. It all involves performing one of the darkest rituals in wizarding history and then casting the Killing Curse on things and ripping your soul apart. No sane person would ever make one, let alone seven of them, but Voldemort did."

Naruto snorted. "Well, it's no wonder that the guy's all nutty if he did that. Splitting your soul can't be good for you."

Hermione nodded. "It isn't."

Tsunade frowned. "So, what are you doing to do now? Follow him?"

"Of course. It's obvious that he wants us to follow him since he left the not out where everyone can see it, telling us exactly what he plans on doing. As soon as I can gather the other wizards and send out messages then I'm off. I can't let Harry get too big a headstart, who knows what might happen when he finally confronts the horcrux. And Voldemort could go after him right afterwards when Harry could possibly be in a bad state from the horcrux itself. No, I'm _definitely_ going after him."

"I'm going with you." Naruto declared. "And no one can stop me. Like I said to those two ANBU outside the office, this is my Harry-nii-san you're talking about. If he's in danger again then I'm gonna go and save him. And there ain't nothing that you people can do to stop me, believe it!"

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You can stop posing, brat, I wasn't going to stop you."

"… you weren't?"

Jiraiya grinned. "We were just about to decide who was going on the search mission for Harry when you three came in. Going after him into the wizarding world doesn't change much."

Manji ruffled Naruto's hair. "We also know that you would have come along somehow so we decided to save ourselves that headache and let you come along from the start. At least we'll know where we have you in case something happens. We're missing one person, we don't need you missing as well."

"If Naruto is going then so am I." Sasuke said.

Itachi frowned. "Sasuke-"

"And I." Sakura stepped forwards out of Kakashi's hold. "Harry-san is a good friend and teacher to all of us and I'm not leaving my team mates to face a new world on their own." Naruto and Sasuke nodded.

The grown-ups shared a look and then turned to Kakashi and Itachi. Whatever response they got from those two must have meant something because no one tried to dissuade the genin team from coming along and instead they let them stay there during the short planning session and told them what to pack and how much to pack. Hermione even explained what to expect of the world they were going to, and what they had to be very careful of.

"I'm going to round up at least one if not two wizards for ever shinobi. Then we can simply apparate from place to place and travel faster. Some of the wizards will probably show up along the way so we'll have to run a bit at the start, but that shouldn't be much trouble." She mumbled right before leaving the room, pulling a small, golden disk from a pocket.

Tsunade looked at the shinobi that were in the room. "Now you hear me and spread this message to the other shinobi on the team. I want you all on your best behaviour. The last thing we need is to invite spite between us and the wizards, especially after twenty years of peace with them. Be careful and you three-" she looked at the genin, "-you three will listen to the others. Naruto, that means especially you. We don't know what these wizards are capable of, and we can't let them get a hold of you. Harry and his people are good but that doesn't mean that all wizards will be like that, so be very careful. And one more thing, Naruto."

He turned around just in time to catch a little vial of a shimmery, silvery liquid. Naruto blinked in surprise.

"Harry gave that to me when I became Hokage. He says that it's phoenix tears and that it will be able to heal anything, and I'm inclined to believe him. They will heal a lot if not everything. Keep them hidden and safe and only use them if it's a life-or-death situation. And even then don't waste it; heal only enough to make sure that the person survives. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. I get it." Naruto nodded and put it in his hip-pouch, hidden and shielded amongst the bandages.

"Good. Now remember, this is a mission to help a fellow shinobi, not a hunt for a missing nin. Harry isn't missing, we always knew where he was supposed to go. That's the official story." Tsunade looked at them all again. "Off with you. You have half an hour to pack and get ready."

The shinobi saluted and disappeared, some in puffs of smoke, some through the windows and the three genin through the door.

Half an hour later seven shinobi and three wizards left Konohagakure and headed for Wind Country.

-x-x-x-x-

A simple little spell on the note he had left let him know exactly when someone found it and picked it up. That made it easier for Harry to figure out how long it would take for the note to be read and the forces that were to follow him to be put together and supplied. He had been right; they were about a day or so behind him. He was also smart enough not to put all his hopes on one single card and so had a portkey set up in case the chasing force drew in too close for comfort. Harry's plan hinged on a specific timeframe, it wouldn't do for things to happen too soon or too late.

He got to the gate in Wind Country with time to spare and crossed over into the other world easily.

The monks were, as usual, not happy to see him and even less happy when he told them that they were to let the people following him through. Telling them that this would bring about the final end of one of the darkest and most evil wizard in history didn't help much.

Harry didn't stay for more than half an hour, gathering supplies and information, giving out orders and then he hurried on. Like he had done when he had come this way with Kimimaro, he apparated some of the way and ran some of the way. He made sure to rest well in between and a couple of times – when he felt that something would take too much time or his chasers were getting too close – Harry even disguised himself and dropped by the wizarding centre of whatever country he was in and bought a portkey for the next leg of the journey.

He set foot on British soil three days before the time limit was out.

In the late afternoon the day before the time limit was out Harry took a room at the Greyhound inn at Amesbury, barely three kilometres away from Stonehenge itself. It would be nothing to cross the short distance tomorrow, and he would use the rest of the time to eat up, wash up, rest up and generally prepare himself for the fight that was coming.

That evening he sat down in one of the town pubs and joined the locals.

"Here to see Stonehenge, are you?" one said.

"Yes." Harry smiled. "Lived my whole life in England and haven't seen it yet. I almost feel like a traitor to my country."

"Or you've just been living under a rock." Someone grumbled.

"Or that." Harry nodded and sipped his drink.

A third person spoke up. "Might want to wait with the visit, though. Or at least bring high boots and be careful when you go."

He blinked. "Oh? Expecting localized rain tomorrow or something?"

The first man snorted. "Not so much rain as all those damn snakes."

"Snakes?"

"Yeah, they're everywhere around here this year. Of course, there are snakes around here, but snakes this late in the year and this many? That's something very different. There's even been a film team out to look at 'em, got on the news, too. No one knows why they've decided to come out but they hang around the monument. We've taken to warning the tourists. Probably not poisonous to humans, but you can never be too careful, you know?"

"That's true." Someone agreed.

Harry looked sceptical. "Snakes hanging around an ancient old relic with connotations to the magical? Sounds fishy to me. Bet the Wicca and druids and whatnots like it?"

The first man snorted. "Oh, aye, ain't that the truth! They've been swarming the place doing their rituals and spells, especially now around Halloween. Can barely keep 'em outside the henge."

"The only way this'll ever end is when one of those stones falls over and squishes someone."

They all nodded at that, shook their heads at 'those Wicca-druid-folk' and turned the topic over to last night's football match.

The next morning Harry ate a good breakfast, checked out of his room, went to a grocery store to get one of those finished lunches and something to drink, and set off walking towards Stonehenge. He was in no hurry and the weather was nice. The walk itself took him along one of the local paths leading up to the monument so that he didn't have to walk along the edge of the highway.

When he reached Stonehenge he wasn't the only person there. There were druids and Wicca and numberless tourists coming and going with tour busses shuffling them around. Harry fit easily in with them, walked around the henge on the marked path like everyone else and then he stepped around one of the tour busses on the parking lot and turned himself invisible to everyone who didn't know what they were looking for.

Harry sat down twenty metres from Stonehenge itself, on the opposite side of the parking lot and then waited. And waited. And waited all until a small snake sniffed its way to him, using his heat to find him. He looked down at it and then held out one hand to let it taste him with its tongue. It didn't slither up his arm but determinedly butted its head against his hand three times.

He supposed that was the signal.

"Tell your master that the ninja Ookami is here to see him as agreed upon a year earlier." Harry said and made very certain not to talk in Parseltongue.

The snake's tongue flickered out at him a few times before it turned around and slithered off into the yellow grass.

He watched it go and then settled in for a good, long wait. With Voldemort's flair for the dramatic it was very unlikely that the man would appear until around midnight. It also depended on how long it would take for the snakes to reach him, but Harry was banking on around midnight. Midnight was a magical time and Voldemort had a history for doing things during the most magical days or in the most magical numbers. Voldemort was predictable like that.

Harry lay back on the ground, one hand under his head and pulled out a small gold coin with the other. It was battered and chipped and slightly bent, but the numbers along the edge on both sides were fully functional. The old Morse code communication medallion that Fred and George had come up with had stood the test of time and distance.

"Weasley Wizard Wheezes, the best damn investment I've ever made." Harry smirked to himself and started pushing the numbers.

-x-x-x-x-

Kimimaro had healed well since he had arrived in this weird world of wizards and chakra that did things which shinobi could only dream about in their wildest dreams. Ever since Harry had left him there, alone and almost floundering, he had been torn between several emotions and thoughts, uncertain what to do or where to go or who to trust. He had felt abandoned and even scared.

Then the wizards had brought him to this number 12 Grimmauld Place and he hadn't had the time to feel sorry for himself. There was a young girl there, Lily, who latched onto him fearlessly. She refused to let him go into what she called 'emo-ness' and despite the language barrier between them she pulled him along in her pace.

Not surprising, really. She was Harry-nii-san's niece after all. That crazy, old owl that she watched didn't let him succumb to 'emo-ness' either.

"You're very pretty, you know? Perhaps we can play dress up some day? I'm certain that we can trick these wizards into thinking that you're a girl." Lily grinned up at him and grabbed his hand.

"–I have no idea what you said, Lily-chan, but it sounds good.–" Kimimaro smiled and let her pull him along.

Lily wasn't the only one. Tayuya was here too. Or, well, the woman who had replaced the real Tayuya. The real Tayuya was dead and had been since before "Tayuya" had joined Orochimaru. Kimimaro had been very shocked at that revelation, and his instinctual reaction was to not trust this Tonks woman. Until she proved that she was the Tayuya that he had always known. It just took some time to understand and come to full terms with this.

"–And Orochimaru-sama had no idea about this?–" Kimimaro stared at the woman. Her hair wasn't pink anymore, it was a normal light brown and short and spiky. Completely different from Tayuya's pink hair, but he had seen her change her face and hair himself just an hour ago.

"–I doubt it.–" Tonks shrugged and grinned slightly. "–Harry is surprisingly good at keeping just slightly ahead of things like that. I just wish that it hadn't taken me almost twenty years to return home.–"

Her home was with her husband. Kimimaro had seen them together, Tonks and her Remus. He was strangely wary of the seemingly mild-mannered, quite unremarkable man. Something about him wasn't quite what he made it out to be, but even now, a year later he hadn't figured it out. There was so much _else_ to focus on in this wizarding world.

So when he wasn't emo-ing or angst-ing (Lily's words), or obsessing (Tonks's words) over the communication medallion that Harry-nii-san had given him and the lack of messages coming through, Kimimaro spent most of his time learning about this new world he was in. First with books that he could read which the wizards managed to get for him and then later he started reading them in English. Learning the language was easy, the pronunciation was a bit more difficult.

He was sitting and laboriously working his way through one of the English books when something happened that nearly had him falling out of the chair.

The communication medallion – Kimimaro had it encased and put on a string like a real medallion – was warm against the skin of his chest, almost burning him. He scrambled to get it out of his shirt almost choking himself with it before he got it out. Kimimaro stared at the small golden disk in the palm of his hands, feeling the irregular pulsing all the way into his marrow.

After an entire year of silence, without hardly any word from anyone about what was happening in the shinobi lands, someone was trying to contact him.

That someone was sending a long message. An order, a call to arms as quickly as possible, and a location and time.

Kimimaro felt the old determination and readiness for battle shoot through him as he left the room and hurried downstairs into the living room where several Order wizards were gathered for lunch. He stopped in the doorway and held out the medallion. "He says it is time."

Harry-nii-san needed their help and there was no way that Kimimaro was going to not answer this call.

-x-x-x-x-

That's it for now, please review.

Sorry about the almost-year it took me to update. I had a lot of trouble with this chapter – were to start, how to start, where to take it, what to write – and I was in the middle of searching for an apartment and moving. Hopefully it will be better from now on, but I dare not promise anything.

Thanks to:

OnTheImportanceOfLungs, JakeTheSheepy, droga1, TheBlackSeaReaper, FatesShadow83, ozymandias123, Caw-Raven, Von, xrosepetalx, Kouru-Kage, Ireadtomuch, AceZ-Shadow, Wonderbee31, Beloved Daughter, Nalya, RJLL, stoictimer, Sr10, Midoriryu, fatesmask, Dark Neko 4000, Bobette13, kirallie, killing u with umbrellas, Lady Avotil, cherry-888, BiblioMatsuri, Barranca, Black Firelight, SFM, Guest, Saix-Vii-puppy, fancyfairy, MelissaKathrine, Harry Uchiha Potter, mist shadow, bebepantheon, tladar, kiki, xxserafinxx, Worsfold15, Wolfguide, Yizuki, KDTBpantherwulf, Fluffy-luvr, sillya, darkangel576, moonofwitch, Uraharaisgod, treavellergirl, SiLVeor, Merlin's Starry Underpants, kenchi12, Ka, MaKayla McKinze, The Shadowless Nuance, CharleD, GirlAnimePrincess, Warpwind, Thornado, D, guest, Guest, AloHola94, DEBob19, EDelta88, nyaw2468 and il2read.


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